Biographical Memoirs Volume 50 (1979) / Chapter Skim
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Wallace Osgood Fenn
Wallace Osgood Fenn
Pages 140-173
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From page 141... ...
Later his father became the Bussey Professor of Theology at Harvard and Dean of the Divinity School. Thus Wallace Fenn's childhood was spent in Cambridge, where he attended the Cambridge Latin School and entered Harvard with the goal of preparing himself for the ministry.
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From page 142... ...
It was entitled "Salt Antagonism in Gelatin." His last paper, "Partial Pressure of Gases Dissolved at Great Depth," was published posthumously in Science in 1972. During the intervening half-century his 267 publications can be conveniently divided into four general areas: the physiology of muscle, electrolytes, respiration, and high pressure.
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From page 143... ...
Similar studies on the metabolism of contracting muscles led him to consider the role of electrolytes, particularly potassium, in nerve and muscle Wallace Osgood Fenn, "A Quantitative Comparison between the Energy Liberated and the Work Performed by the Isolated Sartorius Muscle of the Frog," Journal of Physiology, 58(1924)
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From page 144... ...
Every molecule of sodium which enters then displaces one molecule of potassium." ~ Fenn showed that potassium escaped from muscle during contraction in situ and that a large part of this potassium appeared in the liver. He demonstrated that potassium uptake was #Wallace Osgood Fenn, "Electrolytes in Muscle," Cold Spring Harbor Symp.
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From page 145... ...
This was to be largely a war in the air, and from a military point of view, supremacy in altitude tolerance meant supremacy of air power. The airplanes of that day did not yet have pressurized cabins, but the possibility occurred that the human lung might be pressurized by application of positive pressure breathing.
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From page 146... ...
Neither the equipment nor the staff was very impressive, and it seems doubtful that by present standards the project could have qualified for a National Institutes of Health grant. However, the major asset, recognizable even then, was Wallace Fenn himself.
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From page 147... ...
Everyone associated with him has memories of him in the laboratory surrounded by what at first sight appeared to be an unrelated jumble of strange wires and rubber bands, tubing, pulleys, lenses, light sources, mirrors, and other assorted bits and pieces. A more careful examination suggested there might be some order in the arrangement, and further observation would reveal that something of physiological interest was actually being measured and perhaps even graphically recorded.
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From page 148... ...
He was a pioneer in every sense, and it was a blessing that his work antedated the Human Subjects Review Committee. Fenn's intuitive approach to and logical analysis of the pressure breathing problem led him to develop two powerful concepts and to express them in the form of graphic relationships: the pressure-volume diagram of the lung and thorax, and the O2-CO2 diagram of the composition of alveolar gas.
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From page 149... ...
Finally, one must mention two special contributions to respiration physiology, a lasting monument to his effort in this area: his book, ~4 Graphical Analysis of the Respiratory Gas Exchange, which went through many reprintings, and his editorship of Respiration in the Handbook of Physiology series, both of these published by The American Physiological Society. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PHYSIOLOGY OF SPACE AND OCEANS From the mid-1950s Fenn became greatly intrigued with two new frontiers that began to unfold man's explorations in space and the ocean depths.
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From page 150... ...
:20-26. ~ Wallace Osgood Fenn, "Partial Molar Volumes of Oxygen and Carbon Monoxide in Blood," Respiratory Physiology, 13~1971~ :129~0.
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From page 151... ...
He later took upon himself the difficult task of writing the History of The American Physiological Society: The Third Quarter Century, 1937-1962 (1963~. He served as President of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (1957-1959~; as Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Life Insurance Medical Research Fund; as Chairman of the Physiology Study Section and the Physiology Training Grant Committee of the National Institutes of Health; and as a member on various boards of the National Institutes of Health, the National Academy of Sciences (Chairman, Section of Physiology, 195~1957; Council 1966-1969)
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From page 152... ...
A more intimate glimpse of Wallace Fenn's philosophy and attitude about the role of physiology in the world of science can be found in: "Physiology on Horseback," American Journal of Physiology, 159~1949~:551-555; "Physiology in Orbit," The Physiologist, 3~1960~:20-26; and "Born Fifty Years Too Soon," American Review of Physiology, 24~1962~: 1-10. THE MAN AND TEACHER Reviewing his contributions as a leader and a scientist, one might well imagine a man who unconsciously dominated the scene on the public forum or in his own laboratory.
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From page 153... ...
solved it for himself, and feelings were never hurt. Wallace Fenn had a soft spot in his heart for the proverbial underdog.
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In 1968 a Jubilee Issue in his honor, on the occasion of his seventy-fifth birthday, was published in volume 5 of the journal Respiration Physiology. Wallace Fenn will not be forgotten.
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WALLACE OSGOOD FENN 155 and when he plowed a virgin field his furrow was straight and deep so that followers would not lose their way.
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International Union of Physiological Sciences (President, 1968-1971) International Academy of Astronautics Undersea Medical Society New York Academy of Sciences (Fellow)
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From page 157... ...
Lewis Prize, American Philosophical Society 1958 Gold Medal Award, University of Rochester Medical Alumni Association 1961 Certificate of Merit, Rochester Academy of Medicine 1964 Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Award, International Academy of Astronautics 1964 Antonio Feltrinelli International Prize for Experimental Medicine, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome 1966 Modern Medicine Award for Distinguished Achievement, Board of Editors, Modern Medicine 1967 Research Achievement Award, American Heart Association 1971 iohannes Muller Medallion, The German Physiological Society 1971 Ville de Monaco Medal HONORARY DEGREES 1950 University of Chicago, D.Sc. 1959 Universidad San Marcos, Peru, Catedratico, Honoraria 1960 Universite de Paris, Docteur Honoris Causa 1965 Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Docteur (Hon.)
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From page 158... ...
158 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS BIBLIO GRAPHY 1916 Salt antagonism in gelatin.
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From page 159... ...
1924 A quantitative comparison between the energy liberated and the work performed by the isolated sartorius muscle of the frog. J.Physiol.,58:175-203.
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The oxygen consumption of frog nerve during stimulation.
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From page 161... ...
Die mechanischen Eigenschaften des Muskels und der Zeitliche verlauf der Muskelkontraktion. Handb.
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Diffusion of nitrogenous compounds from frog muscles in Ringer's solution.
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Chem., 120:41-50. Loss of potassium from stimulated frog muscle.
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The penetration of magnesium into frog muscle.
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From page 165... ...
Effect of pressure breathing on blood flow through the fingers.
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Physiological observations on hyperventilation at altitude with intermittent pressure breathing by the pneumolator.
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Ascorbic acid content of adrenal glands of rat in oxygen poisoning.
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From page 168... ...
The pressure volume diagram of the breathing mechanism. In: Handbook of Respiratory Physiology, ed.
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USA, 43:1027-32. Sodium and potassium contents of frog muscle after extraction in 50% glycerol.
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Ohr. Factors affecting the sodium and potassium contents of glycerinated frog muscle.
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From page 171... ...
History of the American Physiological Society: The Third Quarter Century' 1937-1962. Wash., D.C.: American Physiological Society.
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From page 172... ...
Growth of Streptococcus faecalis under high hydrostatic pressure and high partial pressures of inert gases.
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From page 173... ...
Oxygen poisoning and inert gas narcosis in paramecium caudatum. Physiol.
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