Andrew Huxley Autograph

Profession:
(1917-2012) English physiologist and biophysicist. After graduating from Westminster School in Central London, from where he won a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge, he joined Alan Lloyd Hodgkin to study nerve impulses. Their eventual discovery of the basis for propagation of nerve impulses (called an action potential) earned them the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1963.

Year of Birth: 1917

Andrew Fielding Huxley was a British physiologist and biophysicist born on November 22, 1917, in Hampstead, London. He was the youngest of three children of Leonard Huxley, a writer, editor, and politician, and Rosalind Bruce Huxley, a biographer and educator.

After studying at Westminster School in London, Huxley entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he received his Bachelor's degree in natural sciences in 1939. Due to the outbreak of World War II, he joined the British Army and served in the Royal Artillery until 1946.

Upon returning to Cambridge, Huxley pursued his research in biophysics, focusing on the mechanisms of muscle contraction. His groundbreaking work with Alan Hodgkin on the electrical impulses in nerve fibers led to the development of the theory of the action potential, for which they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1963.

In addition to his scientific contributions, Huxley held various academic positions, including a professorship at University College London. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society and received numerous awards and honors for his research in physiology and biophysics.

Throughout his career, Huxley continued to advance the understanding of muscle contraction and nerve impulse transmission, making significant contributions to the field of biophysics. He passed away on May 30, 2012, leaving a lasting legacy in the scientific community.