Andrew Huxley facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Andrew Huxley
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Huxley in 1963
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Andrew Fielding Huxley
22 November 1917 Hampstead, London, England
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| Died | 30 May 2012 (aged 94) Cambridge, England
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| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
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| Spouse(s) |
J. Richenda G. Pease
(m. 1947; died 2003) |
| Children | 6 |
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| Relatives | Huxley family |
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Sir Andrew Fielding Huxley (born 22 November 1917 – died 30 May 2012) was an English scientist. He studied how our bodies work (physiology) and the physics of living things (biophysics). He came from the famous Huxley family.
After finishing school, he went to Trinity College, Cambridge. There, he teamed up with Alan Hodgkin to study how nerves send messages. Their big discovery about nerve impulses, called "action potentials," won them the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1963. They found this out by studying the large nerves of the Atlantic squid.
During World War II, Huxley helped the British military with radar and gunnery. After the war, he went back to research. He invented a special microscope to study muscle fibers.
In 1954, he and German scientist Rolf Niedergerke discovered how muscles contract. This idea, called the "sliding filament theory," is still how we understand muscle movement today. He became a leader in science, serving as President of the Royal Society from 1980 to 1985.
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Discovering How Nerves Send Messages
Andrew Huxley started studying at Cambridge in 1935. In 1939, he began working with Alan Hodgkin. Hodgkin was trying to understand how electrical signals travel along nerve fibers.
Studying Squid Nerves
It was hard to study tiny nerves. So, they went to a lab in Plymouth and used the giant nerve cells (axons) of the Atlantic squid. These are the biggest nerve cells known. They built their own equipment to measure the fast electrical changes in the nerves.
In 1939, they published their first findings in a science magazine called Nature. They showed that they could record these electrical signals from inside a nerve fiber.
War Work and Return to Science
Their research stopped when World War II began. Huxley worked on radar for anti-aircraft guns and later on naval gunnery. After the war, in 1946, he went back to Cambridge and continued his work with Hodgkin.
Within six years, they solved the mystery of nerve signals. They found that nerve impulses, or "action potentials," travel along the outer part of the nerve fiber. This happens as waves of tiny particles called sodium ions move in, and potassium ions move out. In 1952, they published their full theory. This work became the basis for understanding how our nervous system works.
Unlocking the Secrets of Muscle Movement
After their work on nerves, Huxley became interested in how muscles contract. This was another big mystery in science.
Developing New Tools
He worked on a special type of microscope called "interference microscopy." This allowed him to see muscle contraction in much more detail than before. It also helped him tell different types of muscle fibers apart.
The Sliding Filament Theory
By 1953, with help from Rolf Niedergerke, Huxley started to see how muscles move. Around the same time, other scientists, Hugh Huxley and Jean Hanson, made similar observations. In 1954, all four scientists published their findings together. They introduced the "sliding filament theory" of muscle contraction.
This theory explains that muscles contract when tiny filaments (like threads) inside them slide past each other. Andrew Huxley put all these ideas together into a detailed description of how muscles work. In 1966, his team proved this theory, and it is still the main way we understand muscle physiology today.
Leadership and Later Contributions
In 1960, Huxley became the head of the Physiology Department at University College London. He kept doing research on muscle contraction.
Nobel Prize and Royal Society Presidency
In 1963, he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He won it for his discoveries about how nerve cells send electrical signals.
In 1980, Huxley was chosen to be the President of the Royal Society, a very old and respected scientific group in the UK. He held this position until 1985. He also became the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1984.
Mathematical Contributions
Huxley also used math to explain his discoveries. With Hodgkin, he created equations that describe how nerve impulses work. This math is still used today to understand how our nervous system functions. He also developed equations for how muscles contract, which helps us understand almost all movements made by living cells.
Awards and Recognition
Andrew Huxley received many awards for his important scientific work.
Nobel Prize and Other Honors
In 1963, he, Alan Hodgkin, and John Eccles won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. They were honored for their discoveries about how nerve cells send and receive signals. Huxley and Hodgkin specifically won for their work on nerve impulses.
Huxley was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1955. In 1973, he received the Copley Medal from the Royal Society. This award recognized his amazing studies on nerve impulses and muscle contraction.
In 1974, Queen Elizabeth II made him a Knight Bachelor, so he became "Sir" Andrew Huxley. In 1983, he was given the Order of Merit, a special honor from the Queen. He was also President of the British Science Association from 1976 to 1977.
Family Life
In 1947, Andrew Huxley married Jocelyn "Richenda" Gammell. They had six children: one son and five daughters. His wife Richenda passed away in 2003.
Death
Sir Andrew Huxley died on 30 May 2012, at the age of 94. He was remembered for his huge contributions to science.
Popular culture
Huxley was mentioned in S11 E6 of Archer: "The Double Date".
See also
In Spanish: Andrew Huxley para niños
- Hodgkin–Huxley model
- Huxley family
