Alexander McCall Smith

Professor Alexander (R.A.A.) "Sandy" McCall Smith FRSE is a writer and emeritus professor of medical law at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Biography

Born in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, Alexander McCall Smith was educated in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe before moving to Scotland to study law. After returning to southern Africa to teach law at the University of Botswana, he returned once more to Edinburgh, where he lives today.

He is the former chairman of the British Medical Journal Ethics Committee (until 2002), the former vice-chairman of the Human Genetics Commission of the United Kingdom, and a former member of the International Bioethics Commission of UNESCO. Due to his late success as a writer these other commitments could not be continued.

He is an amateur bassoonist, and co-founder of The Really Terrible Orchestra. He is also the author of a testimonial in The Future of the NHS (2006) (ISBN 1858113695) edited by Dr Michelle Tempest.

Bibliography

Academic texts

• Power and Manoeuvrability (co-editor with Tony Carty, 1978)
• Law and Medical Ethics (coauthor with J Kenyon Mason, 1983) (this text has gone through several editions: a seventh, by Mason and Graeme Laurie, was published in 2006. McCall Smith contributed to all six previous editions.)
• Butterworths Medico-Legal Encyclopaedia (coauthor with J Kenyon Mason, 1987)
• Family Rights: Family Law and Medical Advances (co-editor with Elaine Sutherland, 1990)
• The Criminal Law of Botswana (coauthor with Kwame Frimpong, 1992)
• The Duty to Rescue (co-editor with Michael Menlowe, 1993)
• Scots Criminal Law (coauthor with David H Sheldon), (1992; second edition published 1997)
• Forensic Aspects of Sleep (co-editor with Colin Shapiro, 1997)
• Justice and the Prosecution of Old Crimes (coauthor with Daniel W Shuman, 2000)
• Errors, Medicine and the Law (coauthor with Alan Merry, 2001)
• A Draft Criminal Code for Scotland (coauthor with Eric Clive, Pamela Ferguson and Christopher Gane, 2003)

Children's books

• The Perfect Hamburger (1984)
• Alix and the Tigers (1988)
• The Tin Dog (1990)
• Calculator Annie (1991)
• The Popcorn Pirates (1991)
• The Doughnut Ring (1992)
• Paddy and the Ratcatcher (1994)
• The Muscle Machine (1995)
• The Bubblegum Tree (1996)
• Bursting Balloons Mystery (1997)
• The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean (1997)
• Chocolate Money Mystery (1999)
• Teacher Trouble, (2000)

Novels

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series

• The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, (1998)
• Tears Of The Giraffe (2000)
• Morality for Beautiful Girls (2001)
• The Kalahari Typing School for Men (2002)
• The Full Cupboard of Life (2004)
• In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (2004 - also known as The Night-Time Dancer)
• Blue Shoes and Happiness (2006)

Professor Dr von Igelfeld Series

• Portuguese Irregular Verbs (2003)
• The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs (2003)
• At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances (2003)

The Sunday Philosophy Club Series

• The Sunday Philosophy Club (2004)
• Friends, Lovers, Chocolate (2005)

The 44 Scotland Street Series

• 44 Scotland Street (2005)
• Espresso Tales (2005)
• Love over Scotland (2006)

Short story collections

• Children of Wax: African Folk Tales (1991)
• Heavenly Date: And Other Flirtations (1995)
• The Girl Who Married a Lion: And Other Tales from Africa (2004)

External links

• Author's homepage at Random House
• Professor Alexander McCall Smith's home page at the Law School, University of Edinburgh
• Featured on Desert Island Discs, BBC, Radio 4, 19th June 2005
• one reader's misc comments on some books