Science owes more to the steam engine than the steam engine owes to science.
Lawrence Joseph Henderson was a physiologist, chemist, biologist, philosopher, and sociologist. He became one of the leading biochemists of the early 20th century. His work contributed to the Henderson–Hasselbalch equation, used to calculate pH as a measure of acidity.
Biography
Lawrence Henderson graduated from Harvard College in 1898 and from Harvard Medical School in 1902, receiving the M.D. Medical Doctor degree cum laude.
Twenty questions, eight minutes on the clock, and a percentile measured against everyone who has taken it. No sign-up.
Take the IQ test →Then followed two years in chemical research at the University of Strasbourg with advanced scientific training in Franz Hofmeister's physiological laboratory. He became professor of biological chemistry, and later professor of chemistry, in Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was also introduced to philosophy and sociology by faculty members of Harvard University. He established some institutes in Harvard, especially the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory for physiological and sociological research on fatigue with the support of the Harvard Business School, and the Harvard Medical School, and he became the director. He served as the first president of the History of Science Society from 1924-5.
Henderson investigated acid-base regulation 1906–20. He found that acid-base balance is regulated by buffer systems of the blood in complex coordination with respiration, the lung, red blood cells, and with the kidneys. He wrote the Henderson equation in 1908 to describe the use of carbonic acid as a buffer solution. Karl Albert Hasselbalch later expressed the equation in logarithmic terms, creating the Henderson–Hasselbalch equation. In addition, he described blood gas transport and the general physiology of blood as physico-chemical system 1920–1932. He invented and constructed new charts, nomograms, with the help of Maurice d'Ocagne. He introduced nomograms into physiology and biology as well. The consequential inter-relations of various factors were shown in his book Blood in more than one hundred nomograms.
In 1913, Henderson wrote The Fitness of the Environment, one of the first books to explore concepts of fine tuning in the Universe. Henderson discusses the importance of water and the environment with respect to living things, pointing out that life depends entirely on the very specific environmental conditions on Earth, especially with regard to the prevalence and properties of water. In the book The Fitness of the Environment 1913 he wrote we find "an inquiry into the biological significance of the properties of matter" Henderson. He saw the properties of matter and the course of cosmic evolution intimately related to the structure of the living being and to its activities. He concluded: "the whole evolutionary process, both cosmic and organic, is one, and the biologist may now rightly regard the universe in its very essence as biocentric".
As a sociologist 1932–42 he applied the functionalism of physiological regulation to the phenomena of social behavior basing on his concept of social systems. He described social systems with the help of the sociology of Vilfredo Pareto. In contrast to Pareto, Henderson applied the concept of social systems to all disciplines that study the meanings communicated in interactions between two or more persons acting in roles or role-sets. Henderson influenced many Harvard sociologists, especially Talcott Parsons, George C. Homans, Robert K. Merton, and Elton Mayo who all became pioneers in sociology or psychology. Henderson was instrumental in promoting Talcott Parsons career at Harvard despite Pitirim Sorokin's opposition. He also discussed intensively with Parsons the methodological chapters of Talcott Parsons "The Structure" of Social Action" 1937 at the time when Parsons was working on the raw manuscript.
Henderson's investigations had their inception and consummation in the philosopher's chair. In spite of his diversity of interests, his work exhibits in retrospect a fundamental unity; his career was largely devoted to the study of the organization of the organism, the universe, and society.
Henderson was an agnostic.
Books
- The Fitness of the Environment. Macmillan, New York, 1913 German edition in 1914,
- The Order of Nature. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, London, 1917 French edition in 1924,
- Blood. A Study in General Physiology. Yale University Press, New Haven, and Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, London, 1928 French edition in 1931, German edition in 1932,
- Pareto's General Sociology. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1935.
- On the Social System. Ed. by Bernard Barber, University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1970.
Top questions
Who was Lawrence Joseph Henderson?
Lawrence Joseph Henderson was an American physician, chemist, sociologist and university teacher whose career was centered at Harvard University. He bridged the gap between rigorous physiological chemistry and the study of complex human social systems, and he was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.
What is the Henderson equation?
Formulated in 1908, the Henderson equation provided the initial quantitative framework for understanding how carbonic acid acts as a buffer within living organisms. It eventually led to the widely used Henderson-Hasselbalch equation. His acid-base research between 1906 and 1920 established that the body keeps equilibrium by coordinating respiration, kidney function and blood buffer systems.
What is The Fitness of the Environment?
Published in 1913, The Fitness of the Environment was an early examination of the specific environmental conditions necessary for life on Earth. Henderson argued that the properties of water and matter are essential to cosmic evolution, proposed that the evolutionary process is unified, and suggested that the universe itself is biocentric. He expanded on these themes in The Order of Nature in 1917.
What was the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory?
The Harvard Fatigue Laboratory was an interdisciplinary research institute that Henderson founded and directed, reflecting his commitment to institutional research. It was supported by the Harvard Business School and Harvard Medical School and facilitated studies across physiological and sociological disciplines, including the physiology and sociology of fatigue.
How did Henderson use nomograms in physiology?
Collaborating with Maurice d'Ocagne, Henderson introduced nomograms, which are graphical calculating devices, to biology and physiology. His 1928 work, Blood: A Study in General Physiology, used over one hundred of these charts to illustrate the complex interrelationships of blood gas transport factors, as part of his focus on blood as a physico-chemical system between 1920 and 1932.
How did Henderson contribute to sociology?
From 1932 until his death in 1942, Henderson applied physiological concepts to social behavior, adopting the functionalism of Vilfredo Pareto and treating social systems as networks of meanings communicated through interpersonal roles. He influenced Harvard sociologists including Talcott Parsons, George C. Homans, Robert K. Merton and Elton Mayo, and he was involved in the development of Parsons's The Structure of Social Action.
Where did Lawrence Henderson study?
Henderson attended Harvard College from 1894 and earned an M.D. cum laude from Harvard Medical School in 1902. He then spent two years on chemical research at the University of Strasbourg under Franz Hofmeister. Returning to Harvard, he moved from biological chemistry into a professorship in chemistry.
.jpg)