Williams Sampler


Home	Biography	Books	Articles	NutriCircle	E-mail

A Roger J. Williams Sampler

His Philosophy as Director of the
Clayton Foundation Biochemical Institute (1940-63)

We have consistently promoted independent thinking on the part of members of the Institute. It follows therefore that there can never be in this Institute such a thing as a settled orthodox credo or point of view on which all must agree. There is, in my opinion, no place for orthodoxy in science. . . . What seems unorthodox at one time may be quite proper and respectable at a later date. . . . some of the more important contributions of the Institute have been in the realm of advanced ideas, and these do not always find a quick roosting place in scientists’ minds.—The Clayton Foundation Biochemical Institute. A Short History, 1965, pages 7-9.

The ultimate goal of our efforts is social welfare. This is accomplished when the physical and social environment is adjusted for the maximum development of every individual. Since, as science demonstrates, people show wide variability in every respect, the environment which is suitable for one will not be suitable for all. Society must accommodate itself to individual needs.—The Human Frontier, 1946, p. 13.

The existence in every human being of a vast array of attributes which are potentially measurable (whether by present methods or not), and often uncorrelated mathematically, makes quite tenable the hypothesis that practically every human being is a deviate in some respects.—Biochemical Individuality, 1956, p. 3.

We agree with a vast segment of the medical profession that it is unfortunate for laymen to dose themselves with vitamins and minerals without professional advice. It would be much better if physicians were well informed about the intricacies of nutrition and could give patients sound, expert and dependable advice about the supplementation of their diets. The nutrification of foods (Baurenfeind), is a perfectly logical expedient involving supplementation and is widely used in the poultry, livestock and pet food industries.—Foreword to The Advancement of Nutrition, 1982.

While I have never been in the vitamin business and have never derived profit from any vitamin or supplement formulation, I presently suggest the following vitamin formulation and mineral formulation to be used on a daily basis by those who need insurance. These formulations are subject to change when new information becomes available. No infallibility is claimed.—Physicians’ Handbook of Nutritional Science, 1975, p. 75.

Many laymen have become interested in nutrition because they have felt intuitively that nutrition is more important than is commonly supposed. Some have lapsed into faddism and others have been gulled by quacks, but it is difficult to blame them on this account. The very people who should have been able to give expert guidance to the layman’s intuitions about nutrition have, in fact, virtually abandoned the field. . . . A depressing aspect of the situation is that the layman’s intuitions, uninformed as they may be, are often more justified than the physician’s neglect.—Nutrition Against Disease,1971, p. 18.

The main objective of this book can be summed up as follows: it is the author’s ambitious hope that after reading this book the physician may be inclined to say to himself, “Now, for the first time, I really appreciate the deep significance and meaning of nutrition and its importance in medical practice.”—Preface to Physicians’ Handbook of Nutritional Science, 1975.

Always nutrition can be improved, and this improvement is the chief objective of nutritional study.—The Advancement of Nutrition, 1982, p. 3.

Our first important finding is that [laboratory] rats exhibit a high degree of individuality in their behavior when they are all fed alike and treated alike in every way. . . . Our second finding is that this individuality in drinking behavior . . . is genetically determined. . . . A third finding [is that] what the rats have to eat, that is, the chemical composition of their food, is a potent factor in determining how great is their physiological urge to drink alcohol.—Alcoholism: The Nutritional Approach, 1959, p. 58-60.

[Atherosclerosis] is a complex problem that is not solved merely by eating less fat or avoiding cholesterol-containing foods. Cholesterol is not a bad substance; it is made by virtually every cell in our bodies and is necessary to life. Deposits of it in our arteries is what is bad. . . . there is much to be said for the idea that if we eat the right foods and get the right assortment of [nutrients], cholesterol and cholesterol deposits will take care of themselves.—The Wonderful World Within You, 1977, p. 112.

The genetotrophic principle, as the author conceives it, is a very broad one encompassing the whole of biology. It may be stated as follows: Every individual organism that has a distinctive genetic background has distinctive nutritional needs which must be met for optimal wellbeing.—Biochemical Individuality, 1956, p. 167.

People need to raise their sights and get away from the idea that material needs are the ultimate in importance. People need proper food and shelter but they also need—if they are to be healthy—knowledge, hope, love, friendship, and many other things of a non-material nature. . . . One of the reasons for moving toward unified world knowledge is so that we can better fulfill all our needs.—Rethinking Education 1986, p. 41-2.