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Simpson: The Turbulent Life of a Medical Pioneer
Examining one of history’s greatest medical innovators, this volume reveals how James Young Simpson revolutionized the field with the introduction of a general anesthetic to relieve the pains of women experiencing difficult labor. From his birth in a rural Scottish village to his being appointed physician to the queen, this informative account traces Simpson’s ambitious rise to prominence. Both an illumination of a startling medical revolution and a chronicle of the rapid societal changes in Scottish history, this authoritative discourse commemorates chloroform’s influence as the world’s first effective anesthetic and the exemplary career of the brilliant physician who created it.
320 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 31, 2023
James Simpson was a controversial figure in Victorian Edinburgh and across the medical Establishment. A man who pulled himself up from relatively humble origins with a massive big chip on his shoulder, and who is most famous for pioneering the use of chloroform, he published an astoundingly wide range of tracts, pamphlets and papers on medicine and archaeology, pitched not only at the experts but unusually at the time, at the general public. Simpson was a man determined to make a name for himself and his family, and he campaigned tirelessly on his own behalf to do it, canvassing the great and the good and the great unwashed - usually with great success!
This is primarily a career biography, about the public man and his successes and failures, quite rightly putting him up there in the 'greats' of medical pioneers. What struck me most on reading it is Simpson's championing of women. When chloroform became accepted as an anaesthetic, though it was okay for it to be used in 'difficult' births, most people, including some women, felt that it shouldn't be used in 'normal' births. That pain was part of the process, and without it, the process might go awry in some way, basically. 'All very well for you to say', is what Simpson more or less said to the male Establishment, 'you don't have to go through it'. To be fair, that same Establishment initially refused to use chloroform in army field hospitals, claiming that the screaming kept patients alert!!! But to the end of his life, in 1870, almost 25 years since he had first started using chloroform in births, it remained mostly an 'emergency only' drug in childbirth.
Simpson also believed in women doctors long before they became accepted. He publicly supported Elizabeth Blackwell's attempts to practice, and campaigned on behalf of the 'Edinburgh Six' to have them attend lectures at the university. His support helped them achieve that, but the university wouldn't let them graduate, not for another twenty-two years.
So what I learned from this extremely erudite biography was a great deal about Simpson, the medical Establishment generally, and in particular in Edinburgh and Glasgow - which is exactly what I wanted, for my own research purposes. This was a well-written book, and a relatively easy read, but what it lacked was the personal stuff. Perhaps because there's little evidence of Simpson's personal life, the author kept to the facts and didn't speculate. He touched on the character of the man - his ego, his temper, his thrawn-ness, his love for his children. But of his emotions and his private life, there was little. There was an estrangement at some point from his wife, who tragically seems to have become a chloroform addict, but of how this affected him, there's nothing. He lost several children, some in childhood and some older. He was a loving and caring father, the book tells us he was affected but I wanted to know more. But that wasn't the point of this bio, and to be honest, I reckon I'm happy to speculate.
So an excellent book if you're interested in a man who was of the Establishment but not, practicing in a city of radical change at a time when the country was undergoing radical change. And now I'm going to have a think about what role Dr Simpson plays in my own book!
Wife was addict.
This is primarily a career biography, about the public man and his successes and failures, quite rightly putting him up there in the 'greats' of medical pioneers. What struck me most on reading it is Simpson's championing of women. When chloroform became accepted as an anaesthetic, though it was okay for it to be used in 'difficult' births, most people, including some women, felt that it shouldn't be used in 'normal' births. That pain was part of the process, and without it, the process might go awry in some way, basically. 'All very well for you to say', is what Simpson more or less said to the male Establishment, 'you don't have to go through it'. To be fair, that same Establishment initially refused to use chloroform in army field hospitals, claiming that the screaming kept patients alert!!! But to the end of his life, in 1870, almost 25 years since he had first started using chloroform in births, it remained mostly an 'emergency only' drug in childbirth.
Simpson also believed in women doctors long before they became accepted. He publicly supported Elizabeth Blackwell's attempts to practice, and campaigned on behalf of the 'Edinburgh Six' to have them attend lectures at the university. His support helped them achieve that, but the university wouldn't let them graduate, not for another twenty-two years.
So what I learned from this extremely erudite biography was a great deal about Simpson, the medical Establishment generally, and in particular in Edinburgh and Glasgow - which is exactly what I wanted, for my own research purposes. This was a well-written book, and a relatively easy read, but what it lacked was the personal stuff. Perhaps because there's little evidence of Simpson's personal life, the author kept to the facts and didn't speculate. He touched on the character of the man - his ego, his temper, his thrawn-ness, his love for his children. But of his emotions and his private life, there was little. There was an estrangement at some point from his wife, who tragically seems to have become a chloroform addict, but of how this affected him, there's nothing. He lost several children, some in childhood and some older. He was a loving and caring father, the book tells us he was affected but I wanted to know more. But that wasn't the point of this bio, and to be honest, I reckon I'm happy to speculate.
So an excellent book if you're interested in a man who was of the Establishment but not, practicing in a city of radical change at a time when the country was undergoing radical change. And now I'm going to have a think about what role Dr Simpson plays in my own book!
Wife was addict.
January 3, 2015
An readable account - even for someone with no medical training - of an invaluable discovery and the man who made chloroform an accepted part of medical practice which everyone now takes for granted. Although Simpson's Christian faith is only mentioned in this book on occasions (and his faults not glossed over) it is clear that this was a major influence in his life and work. Overall a fascinating and educational read.
July 30, 2012
Interesting to read about a man who changed the face of medicine in so many ways. The book was somewhat repetitive, with duplication of facts and the long lists of who-did-what were rather boring. However, skipping over most of them didn't seem to spoil the overall tale.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews