The charter of The Dirac Foundation respects the interests of the Dirac family in the possibility that Professor Dirac’s ideas might be applied to advance human and animal medicine. Animal welfare was of particular personal interest of his widow Mrs. Margit Dirac. In a letter of 11th March 1995, Mrs. Dirac Wrote: “Dear Professor Robson, Thank you for your very interesting and informative letter of the 27th February. What a wonderful undertaking, how nice, to have this wonderful idea, named after my late husband. I am sure he would have appreciated it fully. It makes me especially happy that his works helps ultimately animals, being a great lover of them. I cannot help wishing that somehow he would be aware of this honor. Thank you for your beautiful thoughts, and sharing it with others. Very sincerely, your Margit Dirac”.
Indeed the first address of The Dirac Foundation was The Royal Veterinary College, London. It was later, for a period, at St. Mary’s Hospital, London, commensurate also with the human medical interests. Currently Dr Robson is Director of Research of a university that comprises a School of Veterinary Science as well as a School of Medicine, and which promotes a “one world” approach to human and animal health and epidemiology, so facilitating the consideration of both human and animal medicine as a single whole in the activities of the foundation.
The foundation has also sought to promote understanding of Professor Dirac’s work and broader visions beyond in a more general way, especially amongst the young. In a letter of 1995 from the State University of Florida, where Professor Dirac taught in later life, The Dirac Foundation was allowed access to Professor Dirac’s collected unpublished papers. Consistent with the Charter, efforts have recently focused on the use of a notation and algebra developed by Professor Dirac (the “Dirac notation”) as an “artificial intelligence” computer language and universal exchange language for health and biomedicine on the web, to empower decision support systems that assist human and veterinary physicians.