Sir James Black was one of the founders of a revolution in the way pharmaceutical companies search for medicines. He developed a method of discovering and evaluating new medicines by studying the basic biological mechanisms that underlie disease. His approach led to new, more effective treatments for heart ailments, including heart attack, and to the first successful drug to treat ulcers. For his pioneering efforts, Black shared the 1988 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine with George H. Hitchings and Gertrude Belle Elion of Burroughs Wellcome Co. in the United States.

James Whyte Black was born on June 14, 1924, in Uddingston, Scotland, to a working-class family. His father was a Scottish coal miner who worked his way up to mining engineer. Black was the youngest of four sons. One of his older brothers studied medicine and Black soon followed in his footsteps. At age fifteen, he won a residential scholarship...