Historical Perspectives

Abstract

James Watson Farquhar was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1922; went to school at George Watson's College, Edinburgh (where he played for the Rugby 1st XV); received his medical education at the University of Edinburgh; spent his entire academic career in the Department of Child Life and Health of Edinburgh University; and died in Edinburgh in 1998. If this suggests that Jim was a provincial, “stay at home” type, lacking a spirit of adventure, nothing could be further from the truth. Perhaps the phrase that captures him best is that he was “a peripatetic personality.” He was a cheerful, dynamic person, who always seemed to be “on the go.” I can see him still, marching briskly between the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (RHSC), where he was in charge of a children's ward that specialized in metabolic problems, and the offices of the Department of Child Life and Health. Of course, he may have been walking briskly because of the climate in Edinburgh, which is not known for high temperatures, and Jim apparently reveled in higher temperatures. However, he could appreciate a cool, crisp, sunny day, too! As a result of his early research activity, he became a “world traveler” who had a profound interest in the pediatric problems of many different countries, but in particular those of the developing world. This is exemplified by his volunteering in 1963 to lead the first batch of medical teachers in an exchange program between Edinburgh University and the University of Baroda in Gujarat state in India, which was sponsored by the World Health Organization. He took his wife and two children to live there for a year and made a very important contribution. Jim may have developed a taste for travel soon after finishing medical school. He entered medical school in …