John Newport Langley
| John Newport Langley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
2 November 1852 Newbury, UK |
| Died |
5 November 1925 (aged 73) Cambridge, UK |
| Residence | UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Fields | Physiologist |
| Institutions | University of Cambridge |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
| Academic advisors | Michael Foster |
| Notable students |
Walter Morley Fletcher Charles Sherrington |
| Known for |
Autonomic nervous system Secretion |
| Notable awards | Royal Medal (1892) |
| Notes | |
Prof John Newport Langley FRSE LLD (2 November 1852 – 5 November 1925) was a British physiologist.
Life
He was born in Newbury, Berkshire the son of John Langley, the local schoolmaster, and his wife, Mary Groom. He was educated at Exeter Grammar School in Devon. In 1871 he won a place at St John's College in Cambridge University where he graduated MA before continuing multiple postgraduate studies, gaining several doctorates.
He spent his entire career at Cambridge University, beginning as a Demonstrator in lectures in 1875. He began lecturing in Physiology in 1884 and was awarded a professorship in 1903, succeeding Prof Michael Foster.[1]
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1883 and later its vice-president. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1916.[2]
Langley is known as one of the fathers of the chemical receptor theory, and as the origin of the concept of "receptive substance".[3][4]
In 1901, he advanced research in neurotransmitters and chemical receptors, working with extracts from adrenal glands. These extracts elicited responses in tissues that were similar to those induced by nerve stimulation.[5]
He died in Cambridge on 5 November 1925.
Publications
- The Autonomic Nervous System (1921)
- Elementary Experimental Physiology
Recognition
A brass plaque to Langley's memory exists in Trinity College Chapel at Cambridge University.[6]
Family
In 1902 he married Vera Kathleen Forsythe-Grant (d.1932).
References
- ↑ http://www.pdn.cam.ac.uk/about-us/history/centenary/john-langley
- ↑ BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF FORMER FELLOWS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 1783 – 2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0 902 198 84 X.
- ↑ Langley J.N. (1905). "On the reaction of cells and of nerve-endings to certain poisons, chiefly as regards the reaction of striated muscle to nicotine and to curari". J Physiol. 33 (4-5): 374–413. PMC 1465797
. PMID 16992819. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1905.sp001128. - ↑ Maehle A.-H. (2004). ""Receptive Substances": John Newport Langley (1852–1925) and his Path to a Receptor Theory of Drug Action". Med Hist. 48 (2): 153–174. PMC 546337 . PMID 15151102. doi:10.1017/s0025727300000090.
- ↑ Rubin, Ronald P. (December 2007). "A Brief History of Great Discoveries in Pharmacology: In Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the Founding of the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics". Pharmacological Reviews. 59 (4): 289–359. PMID 18160700. doi:10.1124/pr.107.70102.
- ↑ http://trinitycollegechapel.com/about/memorials/brasses/langley/
Bibliography
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Newport Langley. |
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Wikisource has original works written by or about: John Newport Langley |
- Katz, B. (1986). "Archibald Vivian Hill", Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oxford, p. 406