Sir James Black was a distinguished pharmacologist who developed not only beta-blockers but also cimetidine, which transformed the management of peptic ulcer. He was born on 14 June 1924, in Uddingston, Strathclyde, the fourth of five sons of a mining engineer from whom he inherited a love of music

Sir James Black was a leading physiologist and pharmacologist whose development of drugs to block beta receptors in the heart and histamine receptors in the gastro-intestinal tract led to a revolution in the treatment of patients with heart disease and ulcers. He was awarded a Nobel prize for his wo