Henry Barcroft facts for kids

Henry Barcroft (born October 18, 1904 – died January 11, 1998) was a British scientist and professor. He taught Physiology at St Thomas' Hospital Medical School in London from 1948 to 1971. Physiology is the study of how living things, like humans and animals, work.

Early life and education

Henry Barcroft was born in Cambridge, England. He came from a well-known Irish family. His father, Sir Joseph Barcroft, was also a famous professor of physiology at Cambridge University. His mother's father, Sir Robert Ball, was a Royal Astronomer. So, Henry grew up in a family of scientists!

He went to King's College School and Marlborough College. At Marlborough, he won a scholarship to study science subjects like Botany, Zoology, and Chemistry at King's College, Cambridge.

While at Cambridge, Henry and his father worked together. They published two papers about how blood moves around the body and about a substance called haemoglobin in small creatures without backbones. Haemoglobin is what makes blood red and helps carry oxygen.

In 1927, Henry finished his studies with top grades in Natural Sciences. He then started his own research in physiology. He was very interested in how a hormone called adrenaline affects blood flow in dogs. He even invented a new device to measure blood flow more accurately.

After Cambridge, he continued his medical studies at St Mary's Hospital, London. He earned his medical qualifications in 1932.

Career in physiology

In 1932, Henry Barcroft joined the Department of Physiology at University College London (UCL). There, he kept studying blood flow in animals.

In 1935, he became a professor at Queen's University, Belfast. Working with another scientist named Otto Edholm, he developed new ways to measure blood flow in arms and legs. This method is called plethysmography.

During World War II, he and Edholm researched how losing a lot of blood (haemorrhage) affects the body. They did this at the British Postgraduate Medical School in London.

In 1948, Barcroft became the Professor of Physiology at St Thomas' Hospital in London. He continued his research there, looking into many areas of how the body works. He studied:

• How blood flows in muscles during exercise.
• Why blood flow increases in active tissues (called functional hyperaemia).
• How blood vessels react to stress hormones like catecholamines.

In 1953, he published a book called Sympathetic Control of Human Blood Vessels with Jeremy Swan. It was the first book in a special series from the Physiological Society.

Henry Barcroft retired from St. Thomas' Hospital in 1971. However, he stayed active, serving on boards and attending scientific meetings. In 1997, just before he passed away, he attended a lecture celebrating his important work.

Awards and honours

Henry Barcroft received many awards for his scientific contributions:

• In 1953, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a very high honour for scientists in the UK.
• He received special honorary doctorates from Queen's University, Belfast, the University of Western Australia, and the University of Innsbruck.
• In 2022, the Physiological Society placed a blue plaque in his honour at Queen's University, Belfast. This plaque marks places where famous people lived or worked.

Personal life

In 1933, Henry Barcroft married Dr. Bridget (Biddy) Ramsey. They had four children together.