Pioneers in Psychopharmacology

In pursuing the history of any field, even one in which many of the main exponents are still alive, it can be very difficult to establish facts and priorities. Detailed scrutiny of the events leading to the recognition of the antidepressant effects of iproniazid, in which Nathan Kline was involved, may fail to establish the exact sequence of events or the sources of inspiration for a discovery (Healy, 1997). Quite apart from the 'facts' behind the antidepressant story, Kline's role in the story beautifully illustrates one of the sayings of Francis Galton, to the effect that in history the driving force may not lie with the first discoverer of a new scientific fact, but rather with the individual who was the first to persuade the world of the importance of a particular discovery. This maxim applies with some force to the three individuals who have been honoured by the CINP in 1998 for their pioneering roles in psychopharmacology - Pierre Deniker, Joel Elkes and Heinz Lehmann whose contributions to the field have included original research and also key initiatives to capture the central ground of academic and public opinion for the new science. They have been science makers rather than just scientists.