Erlanger, Joseph

Erlanger, Joseph (ûr`lăng-ər), 1874–1965, American scientist, b. San Francisco, grad. Univ. of California (B.S., 1895), M.D. Johns Hopkins, 1899. For his contributions to physiology, especially his work on nerve action, he shared with Herbert Spencer Gasser the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He was professor (1910–46) and (from 1946) professor emeritus of physiology at the medical school of Washington Univ., St. Louis. With H. S. Gasser he wrote Electrical Signs of Nervous Activity (1937).

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Erlanger, Joseph (1874–1965) physiologist, administrator; born in San Francisco. He was an instructor at Johns Hopkins (1900–06), then moved to the University of Wisconsin (1906–10) where he performed experiments on intracardiac nerve impulses. He joined Washington University (St. Louis) (1910–46), where he reorganized its medical school and brought the university to scientific prominence. With former student Herbert Gasser, he modified the cathode-ray oscilloscope to facilitate the two scientists' research on electrophysiology of the nervous system. Erlanger and Gasser were joint winners of the 1944 Nobel Prize in physiology for their work on nerve impulse transmission. Erlanger continued to publish research papers and accounts of the history of physiology after his retirement.