Collection of Correspondence of John Scott Haldane
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of over two dozen letters from Haldane to James Thomas Wilson (1861-1945), Professor of Anatomy at Cambridge University.
Dates
- Creation: 1883-1909
Language of Materials
English.
Conditions Governing Access
Generally open for consultation to bona fide researchers, but please contact repository for details in advance.
Biographical / Historical
John Scott Haldane was born in Edinburgh in 1860. He was the brother of statesman Richard Burdon Haldane (1856-1928), Viscount Haldane, and the father of both geneticist John Burdon Sanderson Haldane (1892-1964) and writer Naomi Mitchison (1897-1999). Haldane was educated at Edinburgh Academy and then studied medicine at Edinburgh University and in Jena, Germany. He graduated in 1884 and took up a position at Queen's College, Dundee, before becoming a Demonstrator in Physiology at Oxford University in 1887. There he lectured and researched in medicine, and became Reader in 1907. In 1905 he established that it was the high concentration of carbon dioxide in blood, not low concentrations of oxygen, which regulated the breathing rate, and in 1907 he developed stage decompression for bringing deep-divers to the surface, thus avoiding 'the bends'. During the First World War he worked on the identification of war-gases, and when he was Director of the Mining Research Laboratory in Doncaster (1912-1936) he improved mine-safety. He demonstrated the toxic effects of carbon monoxide and the use of rescue equipment, including the development of the Haldane Equaliser Device. John Scott Haldane died in March 1936 after research in Iran (then Persia) into heat stroke among oil workers.
Extent
1 envelope of circa 25 copies of letters
Physical Location
E98.21
Other Finding Aids
Important finding aids generally are: the alphabetical Index to Manuscripts held at Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections and Archives, consisting of typed slips in sheaf binders and to which additions were made until 1987; and the Index to Accessions Since 1987.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession no. E98.21.
Accruals
Check the local Indexes for details of any additions.
Subject
- Title
- Collection of Correspondence of John Scott Haldane (1860-1936)
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections Repository
Centre for Research Collections
University of Edinburgh Main Library
George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9LJ Scotland
+44(0)131 650 8379
heritagecollections@ed.ac.uk