The late Professor R. H.T. Bates (Richard) left an enormous legacy of published research and launched many young researchers and engineers into their careers. In doing so he established an international network of information engineering/scientists that is in itself a laudable contribution to the global multidisciplinary scientific community. In this paper are reviewed the contributions that Professor Bates and his students made over the last two decades in the physical sciences applied to medicine. Where appropriate (i.e. where it doesn't overlap with other contributions to this issue) brief descriptions are given of current research projects in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Canterbury, (where Professor Bates carried out most of his research, and where the authors are now ensconced) which in some way relate to the work of "the sorcerer" and his former "apprentices" (as Professor Bates liked to refer to the group).