In 1973 Sir Richard Doll, regius professor of medicine in Oxford, was given a tip-off by a surgical colleague that Peter Morris, a much-lauded 39-year-old transplant surgeon in Australia, was on the point of accepting the chair of surgery at Adelaide University. He managed to reach him on the phone before it was too late. Morris agreed to apply for the post of Nuffield professor of surgery at Oxford. The electoral board confirmed his appointment but the candidate only learnt of the decision when he received a congratulatory telegram from a friend in London who had seen the announcement in The Times.
When Morris arrived at the old Radcliffe Infirmary his new secretary handed him a note from Hans Krebs, whose office was along the
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