Main findings

• In 1959, CP Snow claimed there were two cultures, science and humanity, that did not speak to each other (Snow, 1959). Previously, the father of modern medicine, Sir William Osler, had written of their role for the best practice of medicine.
• 2019 marks the centenary of his death, which is being celebrated in Oxford by a series of lectures based on the theme ‘For Health and Wellbeing Science and Humanity Are One’. One of these lectures is about the swollen leg.
• The understanding of this requires science, also known as care technology, but the application of care to the leg also requires humanity, which is the attitude of care. This attitude ranges from sympathy and compassion to kindness and the bringing of cheer.
• Contemporary studies of the limbic system of the brain indicate that cheer that includes laughter is probably more desirable than compassion. In the management of the swollen leg, the nature of care deserves a rethink of how best practice can relieve pain and anxiety by the release of endorphins or by switching the autonomic nervous system towards the vagal from the sympathetic. Osler’s extraordinary gift of friendship maybe, in 2019, a worthy model.