James Francis Tait facts for kids

James Francis Tait (1926-2014) was a smart English scientist who studied Physics and endocrinology. Endocrinology is the study of hormones, which are chemical messengers in your body. He worked closely with his wife, Sylvia Agnes Sophia Tait, from 1948 until she passed away in 2003. Their teamwork was so good that it was called "one of the most successful examples of husband-wife collaboration." Together, they found and identified a very important hormone called aldosterone.

Early Life and Education

James Tait was born in Stockton on Tees in 1926. His parents ran a small grocery shop. Sadly, his father died when James was only 10 years old.

He went to Darlington Queen Elizabeth 1 Grammar School. There, he studied Physics, Chemistry, Maths, and English Literature. After school, he went to Leeds University to study Physics and graduated in 1945. He then continued his studies at Leeds, earning his PhD in 1947. His PhD work was about how electrons move in special tubes called discharge tubes.

Scientific Discoveries and Career

After finishing his studies, Tait started working at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School in London. This is where he began to study steroids, which are a type of hormone made by the adrenal glands.

Working with a Swiss chemist named Tadeus Reichstein, Tait and his wife discovered a new active compound. They first called it electrocortin, but it was later renamed aldosterone. This discovery was a big deal and was announced in 1952. Aldosterone helps your body control blood pressure and the balance of salt and water.

In 1958, the Taits moved to the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, USA. There, James Tait developed new mathematical ways to figure out how fast hormones are made and used by the body. He did this by using hormones that were made slightly radioactive to track them. This new way of studying hormones became a whole new field called hormone dynamics.

James Tait also spent time working in Australia at the University of Melbourne. After a colleague passed away, Tait became a joint leader of the scientific team at the Worcester Foundation. In 1970, the Taits came back to the Middlesex Hospital in London. They became joint heads of a special unit that studied hormones using physics. James Tait also became a professor there, teaching how physics could be used in medicine. They continued their research on adrenal cells, which are cells that produce hormones.

The Taits retired in 1982 and moved to East Boldre. Even in retirement, they kept doing scientific research! They used two Apple IIe computers to help with their work. In 2003, a special meeting was held in London to celebrate 50 years since the discovery of Aldosterone. Sadly, Sylvia passed away just before the event, and James was in the hospital for diabetes treatment.

James Tait later moved to Harrogate and kept up his interest in science and writing. He wrote or helped write over 150 scientific papers during his career. He passed away in Harrogate hospital on February 2, 2014.

Awards and Special Honours

James and Sylvia Tait received many important awards for their amazing work:

• In 1959, both James and Sylvia were chosen to be Fellows of The Royal Society. This is a very high honour for scientists in the UK. They were only the second married couple ever to become Fellows, and the first to be chosen on the same day for their joint scientific achievements!
• Society for Endocrinology Medal 1969
• Tadeus Reichstein Award of the International Endocrine Society 1976
• Gregory Pincus Memorial Medal 1977
• Ciba Ward, Council for High Blood Pressure 1977
• Dale Medal, Society for Endocrinology 1979
• Honorary D.Sc. from the University of Hull 1979
• The R Douglas Wright Lecture and Medallion 1989

Sources

• A quarter of Unlikely Discoveries Sylvia As Tait and Tames F Tait 2004 Athena Press. ISBN: 1 84401 343X
• Brain drain couple to return The Times,London, 2 June 1970,
• Husband and wife amongst top medical scientists in country Lymington Times 15 March 2003
• Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology Vol 217, Nos 1–2, pp 1–270 March 31, 2004. Special Issue Proceedings of the 2003 International Symposium on Aldosterone.
• The Independent newspaper Obituary 22 February 2014 John P Coghlan and Gavin Vinson
• Royal Society honour husband and wife The Times, London 20 March 1959