Francis Treuherz' initial career was in youth and social care services, and as a university teacher of social sciences. On becoming a successful patient of homeopathy, he retrained and started life again. Francis has been in homeopathic practice since 1984, including 13 years in NHS primary care, and on the Homeopathic Helpline felephone service since 1996. He is a Fellow of the Society of Homeopaths, former editor of the journal The Homeopath for 10 years, and currently Board member and Hon Secretary of the Society. He teaches, and helped create specialist software for homeopaths. He has written many articles, a research report, and in 2010 his book on Hahnemann, The Genius of Homeopathy: www.homeopathyhelpline.com/genius. Francis describes his 'incurable disease' as collecting books on homeopathy, with a library comprising about 9000 volumes. He is an active member of a Jewish congregation in London.

This book began as a lecture given at the Irish Homeopathic Conference on 1 July 1995 at University College Galway. My talk aroused much interest and emotion. 1995 was the chosen year for the 150th anniversary commemoration of the potato famine in Ireland. Homeopaths were as much involved in the coming to terms with the past as the rest of the population. I decided to respond and develop my ideas and sources into a book.

At the conclusion of the first conference in Galway in 1994 I surprised the audience with the presentation to the Irish Society of Homeopaths of a facsimile copy of the first English language edition of the Organon. This was translated from the 4th German edition and was published in Dublin in 1833.' I called Dr Jacques Baur in Lyon, France, and persuaded him to make me a copy. This was presented to the Irish Society of Homeopaths as a gift from the UK Society of Homeopaths. Some little time later a book dealer called me with the offer of an original. I had to act quickly so I called Nuala Eising, Principal of the Burren School of Homeopathy and a copy of this old and venerable book is now back in Ireland.