Balancing Tricks and Mini-pigs: Steps along the Road to Propofol

I grew up on a 50-acre farm on the Island of Arran in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. We looked across to theMull of Kintyre, and on a clear day, we could see the coast of Northern Ireland. It was a quiet life, and I can recall the day in 1952whenmains electricity reached our farm.We had cattle, pigs, sheep, and hens, and I decided to study veterinary medicine at Glasgow University. At that time, I envisaged a life driving round the countryside examining and treating farm animals. However, by the time I had completed the undergraduate course in 1963, I decided that I would like to stay within the university environment and begin an academic career, attracted by the opportunity that the university facilities provided to investigate cases more thoroughly. My first opportunity was to join Professor Ian McIntyre and a group from Glasgow University who were running a ‘‘conversion course’’ for diplomates from the veterinary college in Kenya to allow them to upgrade to internationally recognized degree status. My role there was to provide a veterinary service to local Kikuyu farmers and to identify suitable cases to be brought into the college for clinical teaching. I enjoyed playing rugby with the Impala club in Nairobi and played for a Kenyan team against Tanzania in Dar es Salaam. After a year, I returned to Glasgow as a house surgeon in