Joseph Barcroft | |
|---|---|
 Barcroftc. 1940 | |
| Born | (1872-07-26)26 July 1872 |
| Died | 21 March 1947(1947-03-21) (aged 74) |
| Spouse | Mary Agnetta Ball |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physiology |
| Institutions | Cambridge University |
| Doctoral students | |
Sir Joseph BarcroftCBE FRS[1] (26 July 1872 – 21 March 1947) was a Britishphysiologist best known for his studies of theoxygenation ofblood.[2]
Born inNewry,County Down into aQuaker family, he was the son of Henry BarcroftDL and Anna Richardson Malcomson ofThe Glen, Newry – a property purchased for his parents by his mother's uncle,John Grubb Richardson and adjoining his own estate inBessbrook. He was initially educated atBootham School,York and later atThe Leys School, Cambridge. He married Mary Agnetta Ball, daughter of Sir Robert S. Ball, in 1903.
He received his degree in Medicine and Science in 1896 fromCambridge University, and immediately began his studies ofhaemoglobin. In May 1910 he was elected aFellow of the Royal Society[1] and would be awarded theirRoyal Medal in 1922 and theirCopley medal in 1943. He would also deliver theirCroonian Lecture in 1935.[3]
In both theFirst World War andSecond World War he had the prestigious role of Chief Physiologist at the Gas Warfare Centre atPorton Down nearSalisbury.[4]
In 1936 he was nominated, unsuccessfully, by ProfessorArthur Dighton Stammers, Professor of Physiology in theUniversity of the Witwatersrand, for theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for his work on the respiratory function of the blood and the functions of the spleen.[5]
In the course of his research, he did not hesitate to use himself as a test subject. For example, during theFirst World War, when he was called toRoyal Engineers Experimental Station (nearSalisbury) to carry out experiments onasphyxiating gas, he exposed himself to an atmosphere of poisonoushydrogen cyanide. On another occasion he remained for seven days in a glass chamber in order to calculate the minimum quantity of oxygen required for the survival of the human organism, and another time he exposed himself to such a low temperature that he collapsed into unconsciousness.
He also studied the physiology of oxygenation at extreme altitudes, and for this purpose he organized expeditions to the peak ofTenerife (1910), toMonte Rosa (1911), and to the PeruvianAndes (1922).
Between 1902 and 1905 he was a Governor ofLeighton Park School, the Quaker School in Reading. From 1925 to 1937 he held the chair of physiology at Cambridge. His final research, begun in 1933, concernedfetalrespiration.
He was appointed a Commander of theOrder of the British Empire (CBE) in the1918 Birthday Honours,[6] and knighted in the1935 Birthday Honours.[4] He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1938.[7]
During the first years of theSecond World War he was again summoned toPorton Down to consult onchemical weapons. He died inCambridge in 1947.
Mount Barcroft in California is named after him.
Most of this article was drawn from thecorresponding article on the Italian Wikipedia retrieved (12 June 2006).
| Academic offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Fullerian Professor of Physiology 1924–1927 | Succeeded by |
