We are delighted to announce that, thanks to the considerable efforts of Dr Kenneth McHardy, good friend of our club, a new edition of Michael J. Williams’ 1993 book J. J. R. Macleod, Co-discoverer of Insulin is to be published by Aberdeen University Press 5 November 2026. Dr McHardy edited this publication and provided a new introduction.
Copies can be pre-ordered through
Michigan Publishing Services or Amazon
This biography traces the life of JJR Macleod (1876-1935) who, along with Frederick Banting, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for leading the team that developed the first clinically useful insulin. Macleod’s contributions were underestimated and misunderstood for many years until his reputation was restored beginning with the work of historian and long-time TMHC member Michael Bliss in his 1982 book The Discovery of Insulin
The author, Dr Michael Williams (1931-2022), was a diabetes specialist who was educated at the same grammar school and medical school as Macleod. He was a general physician specializing in diabetes at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary who became interested in Macleod after reading Bliss’s book. Bliss encouraged Williams to write this biography.
Dr McHardy was also educated at the same school and medical school as Williams and Macleod and was a general physician specializing in diabetes. He assisted Williams in his efforts to issue the original publication in 1993 and with the revisions beginning 2020. Dr McHardy has been a valued participant in the club’s symposia and in the publication of our special edition of the Canadian Journal of Health History “JJR Macleod Reconsidered: Insulin and Beyond.”
Our warmest congratulations to Dr. McHardy.
