Harold Saxton Burr
| Harold Saxton Burr | |
|---|---|
H.S. Burr
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| Born |
April 18, 1889 Lowell, Massachusetts |
| Died | February 17, 1973 |
| Occupation | Researcher and teacher of neuroanatomy and bioelectrodynamics |
Harold Saxton Burr (April 18, 1889 – February 17, 1973) was E. K. Hunt Professor of Anatomy at Yale University School of Medicine and researcher into bio-electrics.
He was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1889, to parents Hanford Burr and Clara Saxton. He studied in public schools and at the Technical High School in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1908 he was admitted to the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale and received his Ph.B. in 1911. On December 27 of that year, in Chicago, he married Jean Chandler, with whom he had a son, Peter. In 1914 he was appointed Instructor in Anatomy at Yale. He studied for his Ph.D. under Ross Granville Harrison, which he received in 1915. He was a teacher at Yale until 1958, becoming an Assistant Professor in 1919, an Associate Professor in 1926, and Professor in 1929. Most of his later life was spent in New Haven.
From 1916 to 1956, Burr published, either alone or with others, ninety-three scientific papers. Early studies mostly focused upon the development of the meninges and other neural bodies, often studying the amblystoma or larval salamander.
In 1932 his observations of neuro-cellular proliferation in the amblystoma led him to propose "An Electro-Dynamic Theory of Development" for which he is now most widely remembered. In 1935 he published (with F. S. C. Northrop) "The Electro-Dynamic Theory of Life" and (with C. T. Lane) "Electrical Characteristics of Living Systems". Burr is noted for his use of the voltmeter to detect the electric potential of the body, first reported upon in his 1936 paper (with C. T. Lane and L. F. Nims) "A Vacuum Tube Micro-voltmeter for the Measurement of Bio-electric Phenomena". Burr proposed the term "L-Field" for the bio-electric fields of living systems.
In 1942, Burr measured the output of electric current by growing corn and reported "electricity seems to bridge the gap between the lifeless world and living matter... electricity is one of the fundamental factors in all living systems just as it is in the non-living world."
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