- Harold Hillman
Harold Hillman is a controversial British
scientist and an expert in theneurobiology ofexecution methods.Hillman caused controversy in biological fields with his insistence that structures seen in cells under the
electron microscope were little more thanartefacts . He maintained that up to 90 percent of the brain is made up of "a fine, granular material that is virtually liquid" and that the brain only has two cell types, as opposed to four.Mainstream scientists maintained that as fixation techniques have been compared with other analysis techniques, that features observed in the electron microscope correlate with living cells, and that there is no explanation for why all the different techniques should produce identical artifacts, Hillman's complaint regarding electron microscopy was unfounded. The development of later techniques such as
Cryo-electron microscopy further support the mainstream stance. [ [http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/8619/ The Scientist article, 1988] ]Hillman's main field was neurobiology and
resuscitation , in which his work was largely uncontroversial.Hillman was awarded the 1997
Ig Nobel prize for peace for his report "The Possible Pain Experienced During Execution by Different Methods." [ [http://www.improb.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html#ig1997] Dead link|date=March 2008] [http://web.mac.com/flip/AUR/Archives_of_Uncomfortable_Research/Entries/2006/9/12_The_possible_pain_experienced_during_execution_by_different_methods_files/Hillman1993Execution.PDF] .Hillman was a member of
Amnesty International , and later produced research for the charity [ [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20020623/ai_n12619924 Stun guns for police `can harm health' | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET.com ] ] .Hillman was formerly Reader in
Physiology at theUniversity of Surrey from 1965 until 1987, when he was forced to take early retirement at 57.References
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