James W. Black's Quotes
Born: 1924-07-14
Profession: Scientist
Nation: Scottish
Biography of James W. Black
All I ever promised was that I was sure I could develop a new pharmacological agent which might answer a physiological question. Any utility would be implicit in that answer.
Tags: Might, Question, SureApart from two periods of intense study, of music between the ages of 12 and 14 and of mathematics between the ages of 14 and 16, I coasted, daydreaming, through most of my school years.
Tags: Music, School, StudyI had found myself a new mission - and once more my recurring dilemma between corporate commercial needs and personal scientific ambitions was solved unexpectedly.
Tags: Between, Once, PersonalI met Hilary Vaughan at a Student Ball in 1944 and we married in the summer of 1946, as soon as I graduated.
Tags: Married, Student, SummerDuring my six years with them Dr Garnet Davey (subsequently Research Director) constantly supported me and, I have no doubt, fought many battles on my behalf to keep the initially controversial programme going.
Tags: Doubt, Keep, ResearchHalf-jokingly, I asked what was wrong with me. So we made a deal: I would run his biological research provided I had a free hand to run my new project.
Tags: Free, Research, WrongI did help to set up an undergraduate course in medicinal chemistry and made progress in modelling and analysing pharmacological activity at the tissue level, my new passion.
Tags: Help, Passion, ProgressIn teaching, I wanted to offer a general pharmacology course based on chemical principles, biochemical classification and mathematical modelling. In the event I achieved neither of my ambitions.
Tags: General, Principles, WantedMy father, a mining engineer and colliery manager, gave his brood many advantages not least of which, for me, was his love of singing which gave music a central place in our lives.
Tags: Father, Love, MusicThe outcome, the fourth in an issue of five boys born into a staunch Baptist home, meant that from the beginning I was taught to be respectful of others no less than myself, influencing ever since both my political and administrative attitudes.
Tags: Home, Others, PoliticalThe Wellcome Foundation offered me the chance to establish a small academic research unit, modestly funded, but with total independence. The real opportunity, however, came from King's College, London.
Tags: Chance, Real, SmallWe paid off our debts, we learned some, made friends and returned in 1950 with a larger view of life. I had, however, no home, no income of any kind and no prospects whatsoever.
Tags: Friends, Home, Life