Onderstepoort 1908-2008 portrays an intriguing history and makes fascinating reading. Although not intended to be one, it is a textbook on animal diseases in South Africa; it is also a textbook on perseverance, innovation, human relations and the art of negotiation and problem solving, while providing glimpses of the future and where we are going. The book is essentially a resumé of the challenges that faced researchers, scientists and diagnosticians over the past 100 years, who came forth with solutions to the problems posed by animal diseases that were in many instances unknown - not only in South Africa but also in much of the rest of the world. Many of the solutions found by its dedicated and devoted gallery of scientists, researchers, technologists and teachers were often a world's first, and many remain valid and in use today. The golden thread of the book is the wonderful insight it gives into the people who made history, the interplay of human relations, the leaders who effected changes in direction; the human successes and failures, veterinary politics, and personality clashes, all recounted with a good deal of underlying and essential veterinary humour. It is a book that asks to be read again and again - not only by veterinarians, scientists and researchers, but also by students, farmers, agriculturalists, historians, animal lovers and those who have heard the name of Onderstepoort and wish to know more about this historic cradle of veterinary science in southern Africa.
Source : Onderstepoort 1908-2008 ; editors D.W. Verwoerd & R.D. Bigalke
