Joshua Harold Burn facts for kids

Joshua Harold Burn (born March 6, 1892 – died July 13, 1981) was an English scientist. He was a pharmacologist, which means he studied how medicines affect the body. He also taught this subject as a professor at Oxford University.

Burn did important work on how our bodies control themselves. He studied the autonomic nervous system, which handles things like your heartbeat and breathing without you even thinking about it. He also looked at how a chemical called noradrenaline is released from these nerves. He even came up with a new idea, the Burn-Rand hypothesis, which was debated by other scientists.

A famous scientist named John Vane, who won a Nobel Prize, once said that Joshua Burn helped shape the study of pharmacology around the world.

Early Life and Education

Joshua Burn was born in Barnard Castle, a town in England. He went to school there at Barnard Castle School. In 1909, he started studying at Emmanuel College, Cambridge University.

At Cambridge, he studied Natural Sciences, focusing on how living things work, especially physiology. This is the study of how the body and its parts function. He learned from famous scientists like Frederick Gowland Hopkins. After getting his first degree, he received money to continue his research. For about a year and a half, he worked with Joseph Barcroft, another important scientist.

Becoming a Scientist

In January 1914, Burn moved to London to work with Henry Hallett Dale. Dale was a very well-known scientist who later won a Nobel Prize.

Later that year, in October 1914, Burn joined the army as a Signals Officer during World War I. He returned to England in 1917 to finish his medical training.

From 1920 to 1926, he worked again with Henry Dale. They were at the National Institute for Medical Research. Here, Burn helped make sure that medicines were made to a certain quality and strength. This is called standardisation.

Leading Pharmacology Research

In 1926, Burn became the director of the Pharmacological Laboratories at the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. He continued his work on standardising medicines. Many scientists from different countries came to work with him during this time. He also worked closely with a scientist named Edith Bülbring.

Burn helped start the British Pharmacological Society in 1931. This group brings together scientists who study pharmacology. He also helped create the 1932 British Pharmacopoeia, which is like a rulebook for how medicines should be made and used in Britain. In 1933, he became the Dean of The School of Pharmacy, University of London.

Professor at Oxford

From 1937 to 1959, Joshua Burn was the head of Pharmacology at the University of Oxford. He taught and guided many students and researchers. One of his students was John Robert Vane, who later won a Nobel Prize in 1982 for his own important discoveries about medicines.

Awards and Recognition

Joshua Burn received many honors for his work. He was given special honorary doctorates from universities like Yale University in the USA and the University of Mainz in Germany.

He was also an honorary member of several important scientific groups, including the British Pharmacological Society. In 1942, he was chosen to be a Fellow of the Royal Society, which is a very high honor for scientists in the United Kingdom. He also received special medals for his contributions to pharmacology in 1967 and 1979.