Sir Leonard Erskine Hill FRS (2 June 1866, in Bruce Castle,

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

– 30 March 1952, in

Corton, Suffolk Corton is a village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is north of the centre of Lowestoft in the East Suffolk district. The village is on the North Sea coast with the county border with Norfolk to the north. ...

) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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 ...

. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1900 and was knighted in 1930. One of his sons was the epidemiologist and statistician

Austin Bradford Hill Sir Austin Bradford Hill (8 July 1897 – 18 April 1991) was an English epidemiologist who pioneered the modern randomised clinical trial and, together with Richard Doll, demonstrated the connection between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. ...

. His father was George Birkbeck Hill, the famous scholar and commentator on the works of

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

, who at the time of his birth was headmaster of Bruce Castle School.

Education

Sir Leonard Erskine Hill attended

Haileybury College Haileybury is a co-educational public school (fee-charging boarding and day school for 11- to 18-year-olds) located in Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire. It is a member of the Rugby Group and enrols pupils at the 11+, 13+ and 16+ stages of edu ...

. He later received his MB from

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

in 1890. In 1931, he received an honorary LLD from the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

Medicine

Hill's work on blood pressure led him to believe "the arterial pressure can be taken in man as rapidly, simply, and accurately as the temperature can be taken with the clinical thermometer". This work developed into the Hill's sign. Hill was the second recipient of the T. K. Sidey Medal, set up by the

Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...

as an award for outstanding scientific research. Hill was an advocate of

light therapy Light therapy, also called phototherapy or bright light therapy is the exposure to direct sunlight or artificial light at controlled wavelengths in order to treat a variety of medical disorders, including seasonal affective disorder (SAD), circ ...

and in 1924 authored ''Sunshine and Open Air: Their Influence on Health''.

Diving medicine

Hill performed research into

decompression sickness Decompression sickness (DCS; also called divers' disease, the bends, aerobullosis, and caisson disease) is a medical condition caused by dissolved gases emerging from Solution (chemistry), solution as bubbles inside the body tissues during D ...

oxygen toxicity Oxygen toxicity is a condition resulting from the harmful effects of breathing molecular oxygen () at increased partial pressures. Severe cases can result in cell damage and death, with effects most often seen in the central nervous system, lung ...

, and effects of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

. Hill advocated linear or uniform decompression profiles. This type of decompression is used today by saturation divers. His work was financed by

Augustus Siebe Christian Augustus Siebe (known by his middle name; 1788 – 15 April 1872) was a British engineer chiefly known for his contributions to diving equipment. Contribution to diving In the 1830s the John Deane (inventor), Deane brothers as ...

and the Siebe Gorman Company.

Personal life

Hill married Janet Alexander in 1891, and they had six children. In 1904, he took an extended leave of absence due to

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. Hill died of a

cerebral thrombosis A thrombus ( thrombi) is a solid or semisolid aggregate from constituents of the blood (platelets, fibrin, red blood cells, white blood cells) within the circulatory system during life. A blood clot is the final product of the blood coagulatio ...

in 1952. Hill was a distinguished watercolourist and also wrote children's stories. He was fond of the outdoor life, and went every day to bathe in a pond in

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the Lond ...

Loughton Loughton () is a suburban town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. The town borders Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell, Chingford, and Buckhurst Hill, and lies north-east of Charing Cross. For statistical purposes ...

where he lived. He later moved to

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

Selected publications

''A Textbook of Physiology''
(with Martin William Flack, 1919) *''The Science of Ventilation and Open Air Treatment'' (1919) *''Sunshine and Open Air: Their Influence on Health'' (1924) *''Health and Environment'' (with Argyll Campbell, 1925) *''Philosophy of a Biologist'' (1930) *''Manual of Human Physiology'' (1935)

References

External links

* * Chris Pond, ''The Buildings of Loughton and Notable people of the town'' ev ed.2010br>Royal Society election certificate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Leonard Erskine 1866 births 1952 deaths Decompression researchers English medical writers English physiologists Fellows of the Royal Society Light therapy advocates People from Tottenham