- Joseph Barcroft
Sir Joseph Barcroft (
26 July 1872 -21 March 1947 ) was a Britishphysiologist best known for his studies of theoxygenation ofblood .He received his degree in Medicine and Science in 1896 from
Cambridge University , and immediately began his studies ofhemoglobin .In the course of his research, he did not hesitate to use himself as a test subject. For example, during the First World War, when he was called to Royal Engineers Experimental Station (near
Salisbury ) to carry out experiments onasphyxia ting 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 of
Tenerife (1910), toMonte Rosa (1911), and to the PeruvianAndes (1922).From 1925 to 1937 he held the chair of physiology at Cambridge. His final research, begun in 1933, concerned fetal respiration. Between 1902 and 1905 he was a Governor of
Leighton Park School , the Quaker School in Reading.During the first years of the Second World War he was again summoned to
Porton Down to consult onchemical weapon s.ources
Most of this article was drawn from the corresponding article on the Italian Wikipedia retrieved (
June 12 2006 ).External links
* cite journal
last = P. M
first = Dunn
year = 2000
title = Sir Joseph Barcroft of Cambridge (1872-1947) and prenatal research
journal = Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition
volume = 82
issue = 1
pages = 75F
doi = 10.1136/fn.82.1.F75
format = full text
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