James Francis Tait (1926-2014) was an English physicist and

endocrinologist Endocrinology (from ''endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental events ...

. He worked with his wife, Sylvia Agnes Sophia Tait from 1948 until her death in 2003, a partnership described by the

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

as "one of the most successful examples of husband-wife collaboration." Together, they discovered and identified the

hormone A hormone (from the Ancient Greek, Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of cell signaling, signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs or tissues by complex biological processes to regulate physio ...

aldosterone Aldosterone is the main mineralocorticoid steroid hormone produced by the zona glomerulosa of the adrenal cortex in the adrenal gland. It is essential for sodium conservation in the kidney, salivary glands, sweat glands, and colon. It plays ...

Early life

Tait was born in

Stockton on Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees V ...

in 1926, the son of Herbert and Constance Tait (née Brotherton). His parents ran a small grocery shop, but his father died when he was 10. Tait attended Darlington Queen Elizabeth 1 Grammar School, where he took

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

, Maths and

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

for the Higher School Certificate. He went to

Leeds University The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed ...

to read Physics, graduating in 1945. He joined Whiddington's research group at Leeds. completing his PhD thesis entitled ''The energy distribution of

electrons The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...

discharge tubes A gas-filled tube, also commonly known as a discharge tube or formerly as a Plücker tube, is an arrangement of electrodes in a gas within an insulating, temperature-resistant envelope. Gas-filled tubes exploit phenomena related to electric d ...

'' in 1947.

Career

Tait joined the department of medical physics at

Middlesex Hospital Medical School Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clo ...

, London, as a lecturer, where he started to work on adrenal

steroid A steroid is an organic compound with four fused compound, fused rings (designated A, B, C, and D) arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes t ...

s, building on work by

Ralph Dorfman Ralph Isadore Dorfman (1911–1985) was a Jewish-American biochemist. His work on metabolism in pharmacology and the use of steroid hormones contributed to the development of the combined oral contraceptive pill.aldosterone Aldosterone is the main mineralocorticoid steroid hormone produced by the zona glomerulosa of the adrenal cortex in the adrenal gland. It is essential for sodium conservation in the kidney, salivary glands, sweat glands, and colon. It plays ...

) in collaboration with Swiss chemist Tadeus Reichstein who had received the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

for similar work on

cortisol Cortisol is a steroid hormone in the glucocorticoid class of hormones and a stress hormone. When used as medication, it is known as hydrocortisone. Cortisol is produced in many animals, mainly by the ''zona fasciculata'' of the adrenal corte ...

. The discovery was published in 1952. In 1958, the Taits moved to the

Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology The Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research (WFBR) was a non-profit biomedical research institute based in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, United States. History The foundation was established as an independent research center under the name Worces ...

Shrewsbury, Massachusetts Shrewsbury (/ˈʃruzberi/ ''SHROOZ-bury'') is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 38,325 according to the 2020 United States census, in nearly 15,000 households. Incorporated in 1727, Shrewsbury prospere ...

, where they worked with

Gregory Pincus Gregory Goodwin Pincus (April 9, 1903 – August 22, 1967) was an American biologist and researcher who co-invented the combined oral contraceptive pill. Early life Pincus was one of five siblings born in Woodbine, New Jersey, to immigrant pare ...

. Tait developed mathematical methods to calculate hormone secretion rates from changes in the ratio of radioactively labelled to unlabelled

urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and many other animals. In placental mammals, urine flows from the Kidney (vertebrates), kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder and exits the urethra through the penile meatus (mal ...

. This developed into a new field of study – hormone dynamics. Tait undertook periods of leave at the

Physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

Department at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

in Australia and at the

Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, more commonly known as The Florey, is an Australian medical research institute that undertakes research into treatments for brain and mind disorders. Named after Adelaide-born pharmacologi ...

at UM. Following Pincus' death, Tait became joint chairman of the scientific council of the Worcester Foundation. In 1970, the Taits returned to the Middlesex Hospital as joint heads of the

Biophysical Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. B ...

Endocrinology Endocrinology (from ''endocrine system, endocrine'' + ''wikt:-logy#Suffix, -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the ...

Unit. Tait was also Joel Professor of Physics as Applied to Medicine. They worked on adrenal

zona glomerulosa The ''zona glomerulosa'' (sometimes, glomerular zone) of the adrenal gland is the most superficial layer of the adrenal cortex, lying directly beneath the renal capsule. Its cells are ovoid and arranged in clusters or arches (''glomus'' is Latin ...

cells. The Taits retired in 1982 and moved to

East Boldre East Boldre is a linear village and civil parish situated near Lymington, Hampshire, England. East Boldre is surrounded by the New Forest and forms part of the district of New Forest. The Anglican parish church is dedicated to St. Paul, and th ...

where they continued their scientific research using two

Apple IIe The Apple IIe (styled as Apple //e) is the third model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Inc., Apple Computer. It was released in January 1983 as the successor to the Apple II Plus. The ''e'' in the name stands for ...

computers running in parallel. In 2003, a scientific meeting was organised in London to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the discovery of Aldosterone, but Sylvia died shortly beforehand and Tait was undergoing

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

treatment in the

Royal Bournemouth Hospital The Royal Bournemouth Hospital is an Acute medicine, acute Hospital#General, general hospital in Bournemouth, Dorset, England. It is managed by the University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust. The hospital was managed by The Royal Bournemout ...

. Tait subsequently moved to

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

and continued his scientific interests and writing. He authored or co-authored over 150 scientific papers during his career. Tait died in Harrogate hospital on 2 February 2014.

Awards and honours

* Tait and his wife were both elected Fellows of

The Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

in 1959.Vinson, Gavin P.; Coghlan, John P. (2018). "James Francis Tait. 1 December 1925 – 2 February 2014". ''

Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society The ''Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society'' is an academic journal on the history of science published annually by the Royal Society. It publishes obituaries of Fellows of the Royal Society. It was established in 1932 as ''Obi ...

''. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2018.0015 They were only the second married couple to become FRSs (after

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

and

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Alb ...

) and the first married couple to be elected 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 Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms itself. It is, however, a major ri ...

1977 * Dale Medal,

Society for Endocrinology The Society for Endocrinology is an international membership organisation and registered charity representing scientists, clinicians and nurses who work with hormones. The Society was established in 1946, and currently has approximately 3,000 mem ...

1979 * Honorary D.Sc.

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

1979 * The R Douglas Wright Lecture and Medallion 1989

References

Sources

* A quarter of Unlikely Discoveries Sylvia As Tait and Tames F Tait 2004 Athena Press. * ''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 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tait, James 1926 births 2014 deaths Alumni of the University of Leeds British endocrinologists Fellows of the Royal Society People from Stockton-on-Tees