Joseph Erlanger

On January 5, 1874, Joseph Erlanger, an American biochemical physiologist and winner of the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, was born.

He studied chemistry at the University of California and earned a bachelor of science degree. Later, he entered Hopkins University to study medicine and obtained his doctorate in medicine in 1899. After graduation, he taught at Hopkins University. In 1906, he became professor of physiology at the University of Wisconsin. In 1910, he transferred to Washington University in St. Louis to serve as professor of physiology and minister of medicine until his retirement in 1946. He died on December 5, 1965 in St. Louis, aged 91. He was awarded honorary doctorates by the University of California, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan.

A recorder was designed to measure blood pressure. He later turned to neurophysiology. In 1920, he and his assistant H.S. Gasser jointly studied and, inspired by the high-sensitivity cathode ray oscilloscope displayed by Johnson, made a high-sensitivity amplifier based on a cathode ray oscilloscope. From then on, correct waveform recording of activity potential of individual nerve fibers was successful. Their instrumentation and effective analysis and interpretation of nerve activity potential waveforms became the basis for the rapid development of extensive neurophysiology. His research results in this area are reflected in the book "Electrical Activity of Nerves". Due to his research on the highly differentiated function of single nerve fibers, he and Gasser jointly won the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.