Anton Julius Carlson (January 29, 1875 – September 2, 1956) was a

Swedish American Swedish Americans () are Americans of Swedish descent. The history of Swedish Americans dates back to the early colonial times, with notable migration waves occurring in the 19th and early 20th centuries and approximately 1.2 million arrivi ...

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

. Carlson was chairman of the Physiology Department at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

from 1916 until 1940.

Biography

Carlson was born the son of Carl Jacobson and Hedvig Andersdotter in Svarteborg, in

Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County () is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1,616,000 amounts to 17% of S ...

, Sweden. He came to the United States in 1891. He graduated from Augustana College in

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the confluence of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock a ...

, (BA, 1898)(MS, 1899). He received a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in physiology at

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

in 1902 and began working at the

in 1904. While Carlson was at

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, he conducted experiments on Fred Vlcek, similar to those conducted on Alexis St. Martin by

William Beaumont William Beaumont (November 21, 1785 – April 25, 1853) was a surgeon in the U.S. Army who became known as the "Father of Gastric Physiology" for his research on human digestion on Alexis St. Martin.fistula In anatomy, a fistula (: fistulas or fistulae ; from Latin ''fistula'', "tube, pipe") is an abnormal connection (i.e. tube) joining two hollow spaces (technically, two epithelialized surfaces), such as blood vessels, intestines, or other h ...

. These included illuminating his stomach with electric lights in order to observe digestion. Carlson became chairman of the physiology department at the University of Chicago in 1916 and remained chairman until 1940. Carlson was elected to the United States

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

in 1920 and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1928. He was president of the

American Physiological Society The American Physiological Society is a non-profit professional society for physiologists. It has nearly 10,000 members, most of whom hold doctoral degrees in medicine, physiology, or other health professions. Its mission is to support research ...

from 1923 to 1925, and president of the AAAS in 1944. Carlson was elected a foreign member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

in 1929. The cover story of the February 10, 1941, issue of ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine was devoted to Carlson's success as a teacher and his comparative studies of the muscular action of the heart in humans and the horseshoe crab. Carlson was one of 34 original signers of the

Humanist Manifesto ''Humanist Manifesto'' is the title of three manifestos laying out a humanist worldview. They are the original '' A Humanist Manifesto'' (1933, often referred to as ''Humanist Manifesto'' I), the '' Humanist Manifesto II'' (1973), and '' Human ...

and in 1953 he was the first person to receive the

American Humanist Association The American Humanist Association (AHA) is a 501(c) organization, non-profit organization in the United States that advances secular humanism. The American Humanist Association was founded in 1941 and currently provides legal assistance to defe ...

's Humanist of the Year award.''Humanists of the Year''
, web page at the American Humanist Association, accessed January 11, 2007.

Selected works

''The Control of Hunger In Health And Disease''
(University of Chicago Press. 1916) *''Organotherapeutics'' (D. Appleton and Company. 1924) *''The Machinery of the Body'' (University of Chicago Press, 1930). With Victor E. Johnson (1901-1986)

References

;Specific citations ;General references *Dragstedt, Lester R ''Anton Julius Carlson, January 29, 1875 - September 2, 1956'' (Biographical memoirs. National Academy of Sciences. 1961)

External links

* ttp://archives.aaas.org/people.php?p_id=148 Carlson page at the AAAS web site
National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlson, Anton Julius 1875 births 1956 deaths Augustana College (Illinois) alumni People from Munkedal Municipality Stanford University alumni Swedish physiologists American physiologists Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Swedish emigrants to the United States University of Chicago staff Members of the American Philosophical Society Presidents of the American Association of University Professors