Department of Child Health, University of Bristol, Southmead Hospital, Southmead, Bristol BS10 5NB, UK. P.M.Dunn@Bristol.ac.uk
Sir James Young Simpson of Edinburgh became famous for his discovery of the anaesthetic qualities of chloroform and his championship of obstetric anaesthesia. However, as the outstanding British obstetrician between 1840 and 1870, he also pioneered many other advances in obstetrics.