Arthur Rowland Isaac was born on 18 May 1924 in Farnborough, Hampshire. He was the son of Thomas Isaac, a headmaster, and his wife Ursula, née Hughes, who was also a teacher. He was educated at Christ's College, Brecon, and the University of Edinburgh. During the second world war he served with the Royal Signals in Burma from 1942 to 1946. Returning to Edinburgh he qualified with the licentiateship of the Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons of Edinburgh and gained the Fellowship of the latter in 1959. He became consultant surgeon to the Ebbw Vale Hospital in 1966 and then, in 1969, to the Nevill Hall Hospital, Abergavenny, Gwent, where he remained until his retirement in 1988. He married Sheila Jane Wallace on 18 March 1967. She eventually became consultant paediatric neurologist at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff. There were no children of the marriage. He had a great love of music. Isaac died suddenly at home on 29 November 1993, survived by his wife.