The making of a sociomedical scientist (Jack Elinson)

Publishing this festschrift for Jack Elinson in Social Science and Medicine is especially appropriate at this time, not only because it gives an opportunity to those who have known him for many years to express their appreciation of his many significant contributions as a scientist and humanist, but also because an exploration of the influences which contributed to his successful career should provide further insight into what it takes to be able to be effective in breaking new ground in the sociomedical sciences. The notes which follow are written from the standpoint of one who has been a personal friend of Jack's over a 40-year span, sharing many of the same types of experiences in meandering toward a career during the pioneering stages of bringing scientific method to bear in the development of public opinion and behavior sampling surveys beginning in the mid-1930s.