Andrew Huxley
Sir Andrew Huxley OM FRS (Andrew Fielding Huxley, 22 November 1917 – 30 May 2012)[1] was an English physiologist and biophysicist.
Sir Andrew Huxley | |
|---|---|
 Huxley in 1963 | |
| Born | Andrew Fielding Huxley 22 November 1917 |
| Died | 30 May 2012 (aged 94) Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Spouse(s) | Jocelyn R.G. Pease (m. 1947-2003; her death) |
| Children | 1 son, 5 daughters |
| Relatives | Aldous Huxley (half-brother), Julian Huxley (half-brother), T.H. Huxley (Grandfather), Michael Pease (Father-in-law), Helen Bowen Wedgwood (Mother-in-law), First Lord Wedgwood, (See Huxley family) |
| Awards | 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Known for | Nerve fibre action potentials |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physiology and biophysics |
Huxley was born in Hampstead, London.[2] He was the youngest son of writer and editor Leonard Huxley by his second wife Rosalind Bruce. He was the half-brother of writer Aldous Huxley and fellow biologist Julian Huxley, and grandson of biologist T H. Huxley. He studied Natural Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Huxley won the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Alan Hodgkin and John Eccles for his experimental and mathematical work with Alan Hodgkin on the basis of nerve action potentials. These are the electrical impulses that make nerve fibres work, and so the whole central nervous system.[3]
Hodgkin and Huxley shared the prize that year with Sir John Eccles, who was cited for research on nerve synapses. Hodgkin and Huxley's findings led the pair to suggest the existence of ion channels, which were found only decades later.
Huxley was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 17 March 1955. He was President of the Royal Society from 1980 to 1985, and Master of Trinity from 1984–1990.[4] He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on 12 November 1974, and appointed to the Order of Merit on 11 November 1983.
Related pages
References
- ↑ Telegraph obituary
- ↑ GRO Register of Births: MAR 1918 1a 724 HAMPSTEAD - Andrew F. Huxley, mmn - Bruce
- ↑ Anthony Tucker. "Sir Andrew Huxley | Science". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
- ↑ The Master of Trinity is the head of Trinity College, Cambridge University. The Master of Trinity
- Huxley A.F. 1980. Reflections on muscle. The Sherrington Lectures XIV. Liverpool.