Correspondence with E.D. Adrian
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TitleCorrespondence with E.D. Adrian
ReferenceBURD/A/09
CreatorAdrian, Edgar Douglas
Walter, William Grey
(1889-1977) 1st Baron Adrian, physiologist
Edgar Douglas Adrian was born in London on 30 November 1889 to parents Alfred Douglas Adrian and Flora Lavinia Barton. He was educated at Westminster School before taking the Natural Sciences Tripos at Trinity College, Cambridge. His research on the nerve impulse with his supervisor, physiologist Keith Lucas (1879-1916), won him a fellowship at Trinity College in 1913.
During the First World War, Adrian abandoned research to complete a medical degree at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, and he subsequently worked on nerve injuries and shell shock at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Queen Square and Connaught Military Hospital, Aldershot. In 1919, he returned to his research at Cambridge and conducted several pioneering studies in electrophysiology and neurology.
In the 1930s, Adrian became increasingly interested in the electrical rhythms of the nervous system and wrote several foundational papers in the burgeoning field of electroencephalography (the measurement of the electrical activity of the brain), including a 1934 paper with B.H.C. Matthews (1906-1986) which confirmed the findings of German physiologist and EEG founder Hans Berger (1873-1941). His research agenda expanded during the Second World War, with investigations into balance, spatial orientation, touch, pain, and smell.
Adrian became Professor of Physiology at Cambridge in 1937 and master of Trinity College in 1951, and occupied a number of prestigious positions in universities and societies in the following decades, including President of the Royal Society (1950-1955) and the Royal Society of Medicine (1960-1961), and Chancellor of the University of Leicester (1957-1971) and the University of Cambridge (1968-1975), as well as taking part in a number of cross-benches on academic, medical, and scientific issues in the House of Lords.
Adrian married Hester Agnes Pinsent (1899-1966) in 1923, with whom he had three children. He died in Cambridge on 4 August 1977.
Edgar Douglas Adrian was born in London on 30 November 1889 to parents Alfred Douglas Adrian and Flora Lavinia Barton. He was educated at Westminster School before taking the Natural Sciences Tripos at Trinity College, Cambridge. His research on the nerve impulse with his supervisor, physiologist Keith Lucas (1879-1916), won him a fellowship at Trinity College in 1913.
During the First World War, Adrian abandoned research to complete a medical degree at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, and he subsequently worked on nerve injuries and shell shock at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Queen Square and Connaught Military Hospital, Aldershot. In 1919, he returned to his research at Cambridge and conducted several pioneering studies in electrophysiology and neurology.
In the 1930s, Adrian became increasingly interested in the electrical rhythms of the nervous system and wrote several foundational papers in the burgeoning field of electroencephalography (the measurement of the electrical activity of the brain), including a 1934 paper with B.H.C. Matthews (1906-1986) which confirmed the findings of German physiologist and EEG founder Hans Berger (1873-1941). His research agenda expanded during the Second World War, with investigations into balance, spatial orientation, touch, pain, and smell.
Adrian became Professor of Physiology at Cambridge in 1937 and master of Trinity College in 1951, and occupied a number of prestigious positions in universities and societies in the following decades, including President of the Royal Society (1950-1955) and the Royal Society of Medicine (1960-1961), and Chancellor of the University of Leicester (1957-1971) and the University of Cambridge (1968-1975), as well as taking part in a number of cross-benches on academic, medical, and scientific issues in the House of Lords.
Adrian married Hester Agnes Pinsent (1899-1966) in 1923, with whom he had three children. He died in Cambridge on 4 August 1977.
Walter, William Grey
(1910-1977), neurophysiologist
William Grey Walter (also known as Grey Walter) was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on 19 February 1910 to journalist parents Karl Wilhelm Walter (1880-1965) and Minerva (Margaret) Lucrezia Hardy (1879-1953). The Walter family moved from the United States to Britain in 1915, where William remained for the rest of his life. He was educated at Westminster School (1922-1928), before taking the Natural Science Tripos at King’s College, Cambridge (1928-1931). He went on to pursue postgraduate research on nerve physiology and conditioned reflexes, gaining his MA in 1935.
After completing his MA, Walter was invited to work at the Central Pathological Laboratory of the Maudsley Hospital, London, under neuropsychiatrist Frederick Lucien Golla (1877-1968). Since the late 1920s, Golla had become increasingly interested in the clinical applications of the burgeoning field of electroencephalography (EEG), the measurement of the electrical activity of the brain via electrodes placed on the scalp. Noting his skill in technical matters, Golla encouraged Walter to develop increasingly sophisticated EEG devices, and supported his application for a Rockefeller Travelling Fellowship to visit the Jena laboratory of German physiologist Hans Berger (1873-1941), widely credited as the founder of electroencephalography. Walter went on to achieve several key ‘firsts’ in electroencephalography, including the first detection of a cerebral tumour using the technique in 1936. Between 1936 and 1939, Walter expanded his research programme and took readings from hundreds of patients, focusing particularly on the electrical patterns of epilepsy.
In 1939, Golla was invited to become director of the new Burden Neurological Institute, Bristol, an independent research unit specialising in the investigation and treatment of neurological, psychological, and psychiatric disorders, and invited Walter to become director of the Institute’s Physiology Department. At the Burden, Walter further developed his EEG apparatus, developing the automatic frequency analyser and the toposcope in 1943 and 1950 respectively. His research programme also became increasingly ambitious, with investigations into the cerebral effects of stroboscopic light beginning in 1947 and, later, the discovery of ‘contingent negative variation’ (CNV, or the ‘expectancy wave’) in the 1960s. Walter also played a key role in the professionalization of electroencephalography during this period, co-founding the journal Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology and organising meetings of the EEG Society (1943-1989).
Outside of his clinical work, Walter became a key figure in early British cybernetics, the study of feedback, control, and communication systems in humans and machines that synthesised approaches from engineering, biology, and mathematics. He co-founded the Ratio Club, an informal dining and discussion group which provided a key social outlet for cybernetic enthusiasts, which met between 1949 and 1955. He also built several cybernetic devices in his spare time, the most famous of which were his robotic tortoises, or Machina Speculatrix, designed to function as simple models of the adaptable human brain. These received national attention when they were exhibited on television in 1950 and at the Festival of Britain in 1951. He also became a prolific public intellectual, writing 170 scientific publications, serving as an expert witness in court courses, appearing frequently on the BBC, and writing an immensely popular non-specialist text on his neuroscientific work, The Living Brain (1953). His work also gained a surprising popularity among counter-cultural artists during the 1950s and 1960s, including Beat writers William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, who saw Walter’s research as part of a broader investigation of human consciousness.
Walter was married twice, first to Katharine Monica Ratcliffe in 1934 and then to Vivian Joan Dovey (1915-1980) in 1947, with whom he had one son, Timothy Walter (1949-1976). Walter and Dovey separated in 1960 and divorced in 1973. After their separation, Walter lived with Lorraine Josephine Aldridge (née Donn) until 1972. In 1970, Walter suffered severe brain damage following a road accident, forcing him to retire from full-time research work. He died of a heart attack in 1977.
William Grey Walter (also known as Grey Walter) was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on 19 February 1910 to journalist parents Karl Wilhelm Walter (1880-1965) and Minerva (Margaret) Lucrezia Hardy (1879-1953). The Walter family moved from the United States to Britain in 1915, where William remained for the rest of his life. He was educated at Westminster School (1922-1928), before taking the Natural Science Tripos at King’s College, Cambridge (1928-1931). He went on to pursue postgraduate research on nerve physiology and conditioned reflexes, gaining his MA in 1935.
After completing his MA, Walter was invited to work at the Central Pathological Laboratory of the Maudsley Hospital, London, under neuropsychiatrist Frederick Lucien Golla (1877-1968). Since the late 1920s, Golla had become increasingly interested in the clinical applications of the burgeoning field of electroencephalography (EEG), the measurement of the electrical activity of the brain via electrodes placed on the scalp. Noting his skill in technical matters, Golla encouraged Walter to develop increasingly sophisticated EEG devices, and supported his application for a Rockefeller Travelling Fellowship to visit the Jena laboratory of German physiologist Hans Berger (1873-1941), widely credited as the founder of electroencephalography. Walter went on to achieve several key ‘firsts’ in electroencephalography, including the first detection of a cerebral tumour using the technique in 1936. Between 1936 and 1939, Walter expanded his research programme and took readings from hundreds of patients, focusing particularly on the electrical patterns of epilepsy.
In 1939, Golla was invited to become director of the new Burden Neurological Institute, Bristol, an independent research unit specialising in the investigation and treatment of neurological, psychological, and psychiatric disorders, and invited Walter to become director of the Institute’s Physiology Department. At the Burden, Walter further developed his EEG apparatus, developing the automatic frequency analyser and the toposcope in 1943 and 1950 respectively. His research programme also became increasingly ambitious, with investigations into the cerebral effects of stroboscopic light beginning in 1947 and, later, the discovery of ‘contingent negative variation’ (CNV, or the ‘expectancy wave’) in the 1960s. Walter also played a key role in the professionalization of electroencephalography during this period, co-founding the journal Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology and organising meetings of the EEG Society (1943-1989).
Outside of his clinical work, Walter became a key figure in early British cybernetics, the study of feedback, control, and communication systems in humans and machines that synthesised approaches from engineering, biology, and mathematics. He co-founded the Ratio Club, an informal dining and discussion group which provided a key social outlet for cybernetic enthusiasts, which met between 1949 and 1955. He also built several cybernetic devices in his spare time, the most famous of which were his robotic tortoises, or Machina Speculatrix, designed to function as simple models of the adaptable human brain. These received national attention when they were exhibited on television in 1950 and at the Festival of Britain in 1951. He also became a prolific public intellectual, writing 170 scientific publications, serving as an expert witness in court courses, appearing frequently on the BBC, and writing an immensely popular non-specialist text on his neuroscientific work, The Living Brain (1953). His work also gained a surprising popularity among counter-cultural artists during the 1950s and 1960s, including Beat writers William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, who saw Walter’s research as part of a broader investigation of human consciousness.
Walter was married twice, first to Katharine Monica Ratcliffe in 1934 and then to Vivian Joan Dovey (1915-1980) in 1947, with whom he had one son, Timothy Walter (1949-1976). Walter and Dovey separated in 1960 and divorced in 1973. After their separation, Walter lived with Lorraine Josephine Aldridge (née Donn) until 1972. In 1970, Walter suffered severe brain damage following a road accident, forcing him to retire from full-time research work. He died of a heart attack in 1977.
Date
1939 - 1947
Scope and ContentCorrespondence between William Grey Walter, of the Burden Neurological Institute, and Edgar Douglas Adrian, of the Physiological Laboratory, Cambridge, regarding electroencephalographic research and the activities of the E.E.G. Society.
Extent1 file, 31 items
LanguageEnglish
Levelsub-series
Repository nameScience Museum, London
Associated people and organisationsHill, John Denis Nelson
Carmichael, Edward Arnold
Haldane, J.B.S.
Dawson, George Duncan
Sarkisov, Semion Alexandrovich
Craik, Kenneth James William
Wiener, Norbert
The EEG Society
Marconi Instruments Ltd
(1913-1982), Knight, psychiatrist
Sir John Denis Nelson Hill was born in Orleton, Herefordshire on 5 October 1913. He was educated at Shewsbury School before pursuing a medical degree at St Thomas’s Hospital, London, qualifying in 1936. Interested in specialising in psychiatry, Hill then went to Maida Vale Hospital, London, to study neurology under Walter Russell Brain (1895-1966). While working at Maida Vale, Hill met neurophysiologist William Grey Walter (1910-1977), who first stoked Hill’s interest in the field of electroencephalography (EEG, the measurement of the electrical activity of the brain).
In 1938, Hill returned to St Thomas’s to take up an assistant position within the Department of Psychiatry. Following the outbreak of the Second World War (1939-1945) a year later, Hill moved to work at the Emergency Hospital in Belmont, Surrey, where he set up an EEG laboratory to study various neurological and psychiatric conditions, including epilepsy. This work led to a collaboration with neurosurgeon Murray Falconer (1910-1977) on the development of the temporal lobectomy (the surgical removal of the temporal lobe) as a treatment for temporal lobe epilepsy.
After the war, Hill was invited to set up an EEG laboratory at the Maudsley Hospital’s new Institute of Psychiatry. This was closely followed by his appointment as Lecturer in Psychological Medicine at King’s College Hospital in 1947. During the post-war period, Hill further established his reputation as an expert on the psychiatric dimensions of electroencephalography, serving on a number of committees investigating the technique’s use on patients, prisoners, and juvenile offenders. In 1966, Hill returned to the Institute of Psychiatry to become Professor of Psychiatry, a post which he retained until his retirement in 1979.
Hill was married twice, first to Phoebe Elizabeth Herschel in 1938, and then to Lorna Wheelan in 1962. He had four children. Hill died following a heart attack on 5 May 1982.
Sir John Denis Nelson Hill was born in Orleton, Herefordshire on 5 October 1913. He was educated at Shewsbury School before pursuing a medical degree at St Thomas’s Hospital, London, qualifying in 1936. Interested in specialising in psychiatry, Hill then went to Maida Vale Hospital, London, to study neurology under Walter Russell Brain (1895-1966). While working at Maida Vale, Hill met neurophysiologist William Grey Walter (1910-1977), who first stoked Hill’s interest in the field of electroencephalography (EEG, the measurement of the electrical activity of the brain).
In 1938, Hill returned to St Thomas’s to take up an assistant position within the Department of Psychiatry. Following the outbreak of the Second World War (1939-1945) a year later, Hill moved to work at the Emergency Hospital in Belmont, Surrey, where he set up an EEG laboratory to study various neurological and psychiatric conditions, including epilepsy. This work led to a collaboration with neurosurgeon Murray Falconer (1910-1977) on the development of the temporal lobectomy (the surgical removal of the temporal lobe) as a treatment for temporal lobe epilepsy.
After the war, Hill was invited to set up an EEG laboratory at the Maudsley Hospital’s new Institute of Psychiatry. This was closely followed by his appointment as Lecturer in Psychological Medicine at King’s College Hospital in 1947. During the post-war period, Hill further established his reputation as an expert on the psychiatric dimensions of electroencephalography, serving on a number of committees investigating the technique’s use on patients, prisoners, and juvenile offenders. In 1966, Hill returned to the Institute of Psychiatry to become Professor of Psychiatry, a post which he retained until his retirement in 1979.
Hill was married twice, first to Phoebe Elizabeth Herschel in 1938, and then to Lorna Wheelan in 1962. He had four children. Hill died following a heart attack on 5 May 1982.
Carmichael, Edward Arnold
(1896-1978), neurologist
Edward Arnold Carmichael was born in Edinburgh on 25 March 1896. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy before serving in the military during the First World War (1914-1918). On his return, he pursued a medical degree at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, qualifying in 1921. After a number of junior medical and surgical posts in Edinburgh, Carmichael decided to specialise in neurology and took up the post of medical officer at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases in Queen Square, London, in 1923.
After his residency, Carmichael became a registrar in neurology at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, before returning to Queen Square as honorary assistant physician. He was soon promoted to Director of the Medical Research Council’s Neurological Research Unit at the hospital, where he remained until his retirement in 1961.
After his retirement, Carmichael moved to the United States to pursue full-time research and teaching. He was elected an honorary alumnus of the Neurological Institute of New York in 1966.
Carmichael died on 9 February 1978.
Edward Arnold Carmichael was born in Edinburgh on 25 March 1896. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy before serving in the military during the First World War (1914-1918). On his return, he pursued a medical degree at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, qualifying in 1921. After a number of junior medical and surgical posts in Edinburgh, Carmichael decided to specialise in neurology and took up the post of medical officer at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases in Queen Square, London, in 1923.
After his residency, Carmichael became a registrar in neurology at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, before returning to Queen Square as honorary assistant physician. He was soon promoted to Director of the Medical Research Council’s Neurological Research Unit at the hospital, where he remained until his retirement in 1961.
After his retirement, Carmichael moved to the United States to pursue full-time research and teaching. He was elected an honorary alumnus of the Neurological Institute of New York in 1966.
Carmichael died on 9 February 1978.
Haldane, J.B.S.
(1892-1965), geneticist
John Burdon Sanderson Haldane was born in Oxford on 5 November 1892. He was educated in Lynam’s School, Oxford and Eton, before studying mathematics, classics, and philosophy at New College, Oxford. During the First World War, Haldane served in the 3rd battalion of the Black Watch and was wounded in both France (1915) and Mesopotamia (1916).
In 1919, Haldane returned to New College after a period of convalescence in India, and began conducting research in physiology and genetics. In 1923, he became Reader in Biochemistry at Cambridge, and also directed genetics investigations at the John Innes Horticultural Research Station in Merton, Surrey, between 1927 and 1936. In 1933, he left Cambridge to take up the Chair of Genetics (later Chair of Biometry) at University College London (UCL). Following the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, he moved from London to conduct research at the Rothamsted Experimental Station, Hertfordshire. During this period of his career, Haldane became a key figure in the synthesis of Darwinian evolution and Mendelian genetics, using mathematical models to explore the mechanisms of natural selection.
Haldane retired from UCL in 1957 and immigrated to India, where he joined the Biometry Research Unit at the Indian Statistical Institute in Calcutta. In 1961, he was appointed head of the Laboratory of Genetics and Biometry in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Haldane became an Indian citizen in the same year.
Haldane was married twice, first to journalist Charlotte Bughes (1894-1969) in 1926, and then to former student (and later lecturer) Helen Spurway (d. 1978) in 1945. He died from cancer in Bhubaneswar on 1 December 1964.
John Burdon Sanderson Haldane was born in Oxford on 5 November 1892. He was educated in Lynam’s School, Oxford and Eton, before studying mathematics, classics, and philosophy at New College, Oxford. During the First World War, Haldane served in the 3rd battalion of the Black Watch and was wounded in both France (1915) and Mesopotamia (1916).
In 1919, Haldane returned to New College after a period of convalescence in India, and began conducting research in physiology and genetics. In 1923, he became Reader in Biochemistry at Cambridge, and also directed genetics investigations at the John Innes Horticultural Research Station in Merton, Surrey, between 1927 and 1936. In 1933, he left Cambridge to take up the Chair of Genetics (later Chair of Biometry) at University College London (UCL). Following the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, he moved from London to conduct research at the Rothamsted Experimental Station, Hertfordshire. During this period of his career, Haldane became a key figure in the synthesis of Darwinian evolution and Mendelian genetics, using mathematical models to explore the mechanisms of natural selection.
Haldane retired from UCL in 1957 and immigrated to India, where he joined the Biometry Research Unit at the Indian Statistical Institute in Calcutta. In 1961, he was appointed head of the Laboratory of Genetics and Biometry in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Haldane became an Indian citizen in the same year.
Haldane was married twice, first to journalist Charlotte Bughes (1894-1969) in 1926, and then to former student (and later lecturer) Helen Spurway (d. 1978) in 1945. He died from cancer in Bhubaneswar on 1 December 1964.
Dawson, George Duncan
(1912-1983), physiologist
George Duncan Dawson was born in Manchester in 1912. He gained his MSc for research on nerve action potentials in 1933, before qualifying in medicine at Manchester Medical School in 1936. Well known for his skills in electrical engineering, Dawson secured a research appointment at the Manchester Royal Infirmary in 1938 and helped to set up the electroencephalography (EEG, the measurement of the electrical activity of the brain) laboratory of neurologist Sir Geoffrey Jefferson (1886-1961).
During the Second World War, Dawson joined the Royal Air Force but was invalided out in 1941 after contracting tuberculosis. While recovering, he embarked upon a series of EEG field tests at the David Lewis Colony in Sandlebridge, Cheshire, studying the electrical brain activity of patients with epilepsy. Attending the early wartime meetings of the EEG Society (1942-1989), Dawson formed collaborative relationships with several prominent EEG enthusiasts, including neurophysiologist William Grey Walter (1910-1977) and psychiatrist Denis Hill (1913-1982).
In 1944, Dawson was invited to join the Medical Research Council unit at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Queen Square under neurologist E.A. Carmichael (1896-1978). There he developed techniques for identifying small electroencephalographic signals against background noise while studying patients with epilepsy. The technique has since been celebrated as the foundation of modern conduction velocity studies (the study of the speed of electrical impulses in the human nervous system).
In 1961, Dawson became head of the Department of Clinical Neurophysiology at the Institute of Psychiatry, London. In 1966, he was appointed Second Professor of Physiology at University College London, where he remained until his retirement. In retirement, he continued research into epilepsy, developing computer-based methods for assessing drug treatments at Lingfield Epileptic Colony.
Dawson was married to biochemist and electroencephalographer Mollie Heppenstall, with whom he had two sons. He died on 13 November 1983.
George Duncan Dawson was born in Manchester in 1912. He gained his MSc for research on nerve action potentials in 1933, before qualifying in medicine at Manchester Medical School in 1936. Well known for his skills in electrical engineering, Dawson secured a research appointment at the Manchester Royal Infirmary in 1938 and helped to set up the electroencephalography (EEG, the measurement of the electrical activity of the brain) laboratory of neurologist Sir Geoffrey Jefferson (1886-1961).
During the Second World War, Dawson joined the Royal Air Force but was invalided out in 1941 after contracting tuberculosis. While recovering, he embarked upon a series of EEG field tests at the David Lewis Colony in Sandlebridge, Cheshire, studying the electrical brain activity of patients with epilepsy. Attending the early wartime meetings of the EEG Society (1942-1989), Dawson formed collaborative relationships with several prominent EEG enthusiasts, including neurophysiologist William Grey Walter (1910-1977) and psychiatrist Denis Hill (1913-1982).
In 1944, Dawson was invited to join the Medical Research Council unit at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Queen Square under neurologist E.A. Carmichael (1896-1978). There he developed techniques for identifying small electroencephalographic signals against background noise while studying patients with epilepsy. The technique has since been celebrated as the foundation of modern conduction velocity studies (the study of the speed of electrical impulses in the human nervous system).
In 1961, Dawson became head of the Department of Clinical Neurophysiology at the Institute of Psychiatry, London. In 1966, he was appointed Second Professor of Physiology at University College London, where he remained until his retirement. In retirement, he continued research into epilepsy, developing computer-based methods for assessing drug treatments at Lingfield Epileptic Colony.
Dawson was married to biochemist and electroencephalographer Mollie Heppenstall, with whom he had two sons. He died on 13 November 1983.
Sarkisov, Semion Alexandrovich
(1895-1971), neurologist
Semion Alexandrovich Sarkisov was born in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan in 1895. After serving in the Red Army during the Soviet-Georgian War in 1921, Sarkisov pursued a medical degree at First Moscow State Medical University, qualifying in 1923. He subsequently joined the University’s Neurological Clinic under the tutelage of Professor Grigorij Rossolimo (1860-1928), before taking up a research scholarship at the Neurobiological Institute of Berlin under Professor Oskar Vogt (1870-1959). He returned to Moscow in 1927 and became the head of the Moscow Brain Institute a year later, a position he retained until his retirement in 1968.
During his forty-year career, Sarkisov conducted a range of investigations into the physiology and chemistry of the human brain, focusing particularly on the evolution of the cerebral cortex. He also played a key role in establishing the field of electroencephalography (EEG, the measurement of the electrical activity of the brain) in Russia, founding the Moscow Brain Institute’s Electroencephalographic Laboratory in the 1930s. The Laboratory facilitated a number of international exchanges with EEG experts in the following decades, including those at the Burden Neurological Institute in Bristol, England. These connections proliferated when Sarkisov became a representative of the Soviet Red Cross in Britain during the Second World War.
Sarkisov died on 13 December 1971 following a long illness.
Semion Alexandrovich Sarkisov was born in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan in 1895. After serving in the Red Army during the Soviet-Georgian War in 1921, Sarkisov pursued a medical degree at First Moscow State Medical University, qualifying in 1923. He subsequently joined the University’s Neurological Clinic under the tutelage of Professor Grigorij Rossolimo (1860-1928), before taking up a research scholarship at the Neurobiological Institute of Berlin under Professor Oskar Vogt (1870-1959). He returned to Moscow in 1927 and became the head of the Moscow Brain Institute a year later, a position he retained until his retirement in 1968.
During his forty-year career, Sarkisov conducted a range of investigations into the physiology and chemistry of the human brain, focusing particularly on the evolution of the cerebral cortex. He also played a key role in establishing the field of electroencephalography (EEG, the measurement of the electrical activity of the brain) in Russia, founding the Moscow Brain Institute’s Electroencephalographic Laboratory in the 1930s. The Laboratory facilitated a number of international exchanges with EEG experts in the following decades, including those at the Burden Neurological Institute in Bristol, England. These connections proliferated when Sarkisov became a representative of the Soviet Red Cross in Britain during the Second World War.
Sarkisov died on 13 December 1971 following a long illness.
Craik, Kenneth James William
(1914-1945), psychologist
Kenneth James William Craik was born on 29 March 1914. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy, before studying philosophy and psychology at Edinburgh University. After graduating, Craik joined the Psychological Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, conducting research on visual adaptation, the subject for which he would later receive his Ph.D. in 1940.
During the Second World War (1939-1945), Craik was barred from serving in the military for health reasons and instead conducted a number of investigations in Cambridge, most notably relating to the problem of the ‘human factor’ in the design and operation of military control panels and cockpits. Craik’s success led him to be recommended for the directorship of the new Applied Psychology Unit by the Psychological Laboratory’s director (and Craik’s Ph.D. supervisor), Sir Frederic Bartlett (1886-1969). During this time, Craik also wrote The Nature of Explanation (1943), a work which combined philosophical, psychological, and cybernetic approaches to understanding the human brain, and introduced the concept of ‘mental models’.
Craik died in a road accident on 7 May 1945.
Kenneth James William Craik was born on 29 March 1914. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy, before studying philosophy and psychology at Edinburgh University. After graduating, Craik joined the Psychological Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, conducting research on visual adaptation, the subject for which he would later receive his Ph.D. in 1940.
During the Second World War (1939-1945), Craik was barred from serving in the military for health reasons and instead conducted a number of investigations in Cambridge, most notably relating to the problem of the ‘human factor’ in the design and operation of military control panels and cockpits. Craik’s success led him to be recommended for the directorship of the new Applied Psychology Unit by the Psychological Laboratory’s director (and Craik’s Ph.D. supervisor), Sir Frederic Bartlett (1886-1969). During this time, Craik also wrote The Nature of Explanation (1943), a work which combined philosophical, psychological, and cybernetic approaches to understanding the human brain, and introduced the concept of ‘mental models’.
Craik died in a road accident on 7 May 1945.
Wiener, Norbert
(1894-1964), mathematician
Norbert Wiener was born in Columbia, Missouri on 26 November 1894. He was educated at Ayer High School, Massachusetts before studying biology and mathematics at Tufts College, graduating in 1909. After a brief stint at Harvard Graduate School studying zoology, Wiener transferred to Cornell University to study philosophy, receiving his M.A. in 1912. He went on to graduate from Harvard with a Ph.D. in philosophy just one year later.
Wiener took on a number of roles in the following years, including a junior lectureship at Harvard (1915-1916), an officer post in the army reserves (1916-1917), an engineering apprenticeship at General Electric (1917), and a writer’s post with the Encyclopaedia Americana in New York (1917-1918). After the First World War, Wiener accepted a position in the Department of Mathematics of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he remained for the rest of his life.
While at MIT in the late 1930s, Wiener coined the term “cybernetics” to describe his field of research, referring to the study of feedback, control, and communication systems in humans, animals, and machines. Wiener’s first major application of this new discipline came during the Second World War, when he assisted the American military in their development of autonomous anti-aircraft systems. After the war, he published Cybernetics, or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine (1948), a text that proved highly influential in fields as diverse as neuroscience, artificial intelligence, electrical engineering, and economic planning.
Wiener married Margaret Engemann in 1926, with whom he had two children. He died in Stockholm, Sweden, following a heart attack on 18 March 1964.
Norbert Wiener was born in Columbia, Missouri on 26 November 1894. He was educated at Ayer High School, Massachusetts before studying biology and mathematics at Tufts College, graduating in 1909. After a brief stint at Harvard Graduate School studying zoology, Wiener transferred to Cornell University to study philosophy, receiving his M.A. in 1912. He went on to graduate from Harvard with a Ph.D. in philosophy just one year later.
Wiener took on a number of roles in the following years, including a junior lectureship at Harvard (1915-1916), an officer post in the army reserves (1916-1917), an engineering apprenticeship at General Electric (1917), and a writer’s post with the Encyclopaedia Americana in New York (1917-1918). After the First World War, Wiener accepted a position in the Department of Mathematics of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he remained for the rest of his life.
While at MIT in the late 1930s, Wiener coined the term “cybernetics” to describe his field of research, referring to the study of feedback, control, and communication systems in humans, animals, and machines. Wiener’s first major application of this new discipline came during the Second World War, when he assisted the American military in their development of autonomous anti-aircraft systems. After the war, he published Cybernetics, or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine (1948), a text that proved highly influential in fields as diverse as neuroscience, artificial intelligence, electrical engineering, and economic planning.
Wiener married Margaret Engemann in 1926, with whom he had two children. He died in Stockholm, Sweden, following a heart attack on 18 March 1964.
The EEG Society
The EEG Society (or Electroencephalographic Society) was an international scientific society established to facilitate the discussion and promotion of electroencephalography (the recording of the electrical activity of the brain). The Society developed out of an informal discussion group organised by neurophysiologist William Grey Walter (1910-1977) in 1942 and was formally re-organised as the EEG Society in 1943, with electrophysiologist E.D. Adrian (1889-1977) serving as its first President.
The EEG Society was formally incorporated in 1951 and registered as a charity in 1983. Following a vote by its members in 1989, the Society changed its name to the British Society for Clinical Neurophysiology (BSCN). The BSCN remains active today, promoting research and public awareness of neurophysiology and associated neuroscientific disciplines.
The EEG Society was formally incorporated in 1951 and registered as a charity in 1983. Following a vote by its members in 1989, the Society changed its name to the British Society for Clinical Neurophysiology (BSCN). The BSCN remains active today, promoting research and public awareness of neurophysiology and associated neuroscientific disciplines.
Marconi Instruments Ltd
Marconi Instruments Limited was a British manufacturer of electronic test and measurement equipment, based in St Albans and Stevenage, England. The company was formed following the Marconi Company buy-out of Marconi-Ecko Instruments in 1941 and was sold to IFR Systems Inc. in 1998. The company was named after Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937), a pioneer in radio and telegraphy who founded the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company (later the Marconi Company) in 1897.
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