I wouldn’t be surprised if my paternal grandfather had tartan blood in his veins. Scotland hardly appears on a world map, but, as he loved to tell me, Scottish influence in the world far outweighs its population or geography.
Scotland has some of the oldest and most respected universities in the world—more per capita than any other country. And did you know it was the first country in the modern world with national education? Established in 1496, its purpose was so every child could read the Bible, suiting them to become contributing members of society.
My grandpa loved to regale me with stories of Scots heroes like Alexander Graham Bell, born in Edinburgh, who patented the first practical telephone. He told me about Sir Alexander Fleming, best known for discovering penicillin, and James Clerk Maxwell, the father of electrical engineering. He seemed to have an endless supply of famous Scottish inventors. And all I ever invented were ways to get out of my weekly chores!
One of Scotland’s favorite sons was Sir James Simpson (1811-1870), discoverer of the anesthetic properties of chloroform. Simpson revolutionized obstetrics and pioneered in gynecology. He introduced wire sutures and promoted acupressure, a method for arresting hemorrhages. He also developed the long forceps that bear his name.
The seventh son of a baker, Simpson went to university at age 14 and graduated in 1832 at age 21. He became Professor of Midwifery at Edinburgh University in 1840, and Physician to Queen Victoria in 1847.
When only a student, watching the agony of a woman under the knife so horrified him that he almost gave up medicine. Instead, he committed to finding ways to perform painless surgery.
This search led him to the use of chloroform as anesthesia.
When declared a Baron by the Queen, he selected as his motto the Latin words “Victo Dolore”—Pain Conquered.
Yet with all the wealth and recognition this brought, there was one pain for which the doctor could not find a cure. He wrote on his 26th birthday:
“I am always sad on my birthday…the past appeared to me as almost lost, the future as a labyrinth of vexation and disappointment.”
Although he outwardly followed the Christian faith, by his own confession he knew he really “worshipped success and rejected God.”
Then came the death of his lifelong friend, Dr. John Reid, professor of anatomy at the University of St Andrews. Reid, who had personally encountered Christ in middle age, explained to Simpson what it meant to respond to the simple invitation: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31)
In spite of wracking pain, Reid had died with such peace and confidence that Simpson knew this was the answer to his own deep inner agony.
He told his students: “In Christ you will find a Savior, a companion, a counsellor, a friend.” Before he died, exhausted from his selfless work at age 58, he wrote: “We can do nothing to wash away our guilt before God, but Christ has done all that is required. ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.’”
In his biography, penned by his son, we read these words: “Simpson was, of course, absolutely sincere when he said that his greatest discovery was…that he had a Savior.”
Article by Jabe Nicholson first published in the Commercial Dispatch, Saturday, May 3, 2025.