John Zachary Young
Encyclopedia
John Zachary Young FRS (18 March 1907 – 4 July 1997), generally known as "JZ" or "JZY", was an English
zoologist and neurophysiologist, described as
, an independent school
in Wiltshire
, England. In 1928, he received a first class honours degree in zoology from Magdalen College, Oxford
. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
in 1945 and served as Professor of Anatomy at University College London
from then until 1974. The following year, he became a Professor Emeritus and proposed a degree programme in the Human Sciences.
Among his honors are a Linnean Medal
for zoology from the Linnean Society of London
, awarded in 1973, and honorary citizenship of the city of Naples
, Italy
, granted in 1991.
Young revered the brother of his great-great- grandfather, Richard, the English scientist and Egyptologist
Thomas Young
, M.D., F.R.S. (1773–1829).
and the corresponding squid giant synapse
. His work in the 1930s on signal transmission in, and the fibre structure of, nerves inspired the work of Sir Andrew Huxley
and Sir Alan Hodgkin for which they received a Nobel prize
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw6_Si5jOpo Professor Young demonstrates the squid giant axon
During World War II
, responding to the large number of nerve injuries sustained by soldiers in combat and by his pioneering work in comparative anatomy and the regrowth of damaged nerves in squids and octopuses, Young set up a unit at the University of Oxford
to study nerve regeneration in mammals. His wartime team, investigating the biochemical conditions which control nerve fibre growth, also sought ways to accelerate the repair of peripheral nerves severed by injury. Working with Peter Medawar
, Young found a way to rejoin small peripheral nerves using a "glue" of plasma. This method was eventually modified and used in surgery.
After the war, Young's research interests turned to investigating the central nervous system and the functions of the brain. Continuing to experiment on squids, octopuses and other cephalopods, Young found that they could be trained to respond in specific ways to visual stimuli.
In 1950, Young was invited by the BBC to deliver the Reith Lectures. For his series of eight radio broadcasts, titled Doubt and Certainty in Science, he introduced the BBC audience to the themes of his research, exploring the function of the brain and the then-current scientific methods used to increase understanding of it.
However, he is probably best remembered for his two textbooks, The Life of Vertebrates
and The Life of Mammals.
A memorial service was held for him in the Chapel of Magdalen College, Oxford
on 9 November 1997.
for many years, for his summer experimenting season, at the Stazione Zoologica di Napoli which he had first known as a student occupying the Oxford research ‘Table’. In Naples, he was known as "Professore" at his favorite restaurants. Young was awarded an honorary citizenship by the City of Naples for his services to science, in particular for the studies he conducted at the Stazione. Young was also awarded the Stazione’s Gold Medal by the President of the Stazione Zoologica at a concert given in his honour in October 1991. In 1991 he was invited by the Italian Biological Society to make an anniversary lecture, when he was the oldest living member of the society; for this lecture, Young picked the same subject he had talked about 63 years earlier, in 1928.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
zoologist and neurophysiologist, described as
"one of the most influential biologists of the 20th century ... He had a huge presence, imposing stature and enormous energy and enthusiasm for his research and for the imaginative understanding and interpretation of the nervous system and brain function."
Biography
Young went to school at Marlborough CollegeMarlborough College
Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...
, an independent school
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, England. In 1928, he received a first class honours degree in zoology from Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
in 1945 and served as Professor of Anatomy at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
from then until 1974. The following year, he became a Professor Emeritus and proposed a degree programme in the Human Sciences.
Among his honors are a Linnean Medal
Linnean Medal
The Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society of London was established in 1888, and is awarded annually to alternately a botanist or a zoologist or to one of each in the same year...
for zoology from the Linnean Society of London
Linnean Society of London
The Linnean Society of London is the world's premier society for the study and dissemination of taxonomy and natural history. It publishes a zoological journal, as well as botanical and biological journals...
, awarded in 1973, and honorary citizenship of the city of Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, granted in 1991.
Young revered the brother of his great-great- grandfather, Richard, the English scientist and Egyptologist
Egyptology
Egyptology is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious practices in the AD 4th century. A practitioner of the discipline is an “Egyptologist”...
Thomas Young
Thomas Young (scientist)
Thomas Young was an English polymath. He is famous for having partly deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphics before Jean-François Champollion eventually expanded on his work...
, M.D., F.R.S. (1773–1829).
Research work
Most of his scientific research was on the nervous system. He discovered the squid giant axonSquid giant axon
The squid giant axon is the very large axon that controls part of the water jet propulsion system in squid. It was discovered by English zoologist and neurophysiologist John Zachary Young in 1936...
and the corresponding squid giant synapse
Squid giant synapse
The squid giant synapse is a chemical synapse found in squid. It is the largest chemical junction in nature.-Anatomy:The squid giant synapse was first recognized by John Zachary Young in 1939. It lies in the stellate ganglion on each side of the midline, at the posterior wall of the squid’s...
. His work in the 1930s on signal transmission in, and the fibre structure of, nerves inspired the work of Sir Andrew Huxley
Andrew Huxley
Sir Andrew Fielding Huxley, OM, FRS is an English physiologist and biophysicist, who won the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his experimental and mathematical work with Sir Alan Lloyd Hodgkin on the basis of nerve action potentials, the electrical impulses that enable the activity...
and Sir Alan Hodgkin for which they received a Nobel prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw6_Si5jOpo Professor Young demonstrates the squid giant axon
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, responding to the large number of nerve injuries sustained by soldiers in combat and by his pioneering work in comparative anatomy and the regrowth of damaged nerves in squids and octopuses, Young set up a unit at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
to study nerve regeneration in mammals. His wartime team, investigating the biochemical conditions which control nerve fibre growth, also sought ways to accelerate the repair of peripheral nerves severed by injury. Working with Peter Medawar
Peter Medawar
Sir Peter Brian Medawar OM CBE FRS was a British biologist, whose work on graft rejection and the discovery of acquired immune tolerance was fundamental to the practice of tissue and organ transplants...
, Young found a way to rejoin small peripheral nerves using a "glue" of plasma. This method was eventually modified and used in surgery.
After the war, Young's research interests turned to investigating the central nervous system and the functions of the brain. Continuing to experiment on squids, octopuses and other cephalopods, Young found that they could be trained to respond in specific ways to visual stimuli.
In 1950, Young was invited by the BBC to deliver the Reith Lectures. For his series of eight radio broadcasts, titled Doubt and Certainty in Science, he introduced the BBC audience to the themes of his research, exploring the function of the brain and the then-current scientific methods used to increase understanding of it.
However, he is probably best remembered for his two textbooks, The Life of Vertebrates
The Life of Vertebrates
The Life of Vertebrates is a noted biology textbook by John Zachary Young.The book grew out of the author's attempt to define what is meant by the life of vertebrates and by the evolution of that life...
and The Life of Mammals.
A memorial service was held for him in the Chapel of Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
on 9 November 1997.
Naples
Young traveled to NaplesNaples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
for many years, for his summer experimenting season, at the Stazione Zoologica di Napoli which he had first known as a student occupying the Oxford research ‘Table’. In Naples, he was known as "Professore" at his favorite restaurants. Young was awarded an honorary citizenship by the City of Naples for his services to science, in particular for the studies he conducted at the Stazione. Young was also awarded the Stazione’s Gold Medal by the President of the Stazione Zoologica at a concert given in his honour in October 1991. In 1991 he was invited by the Italian Biological Society to make an anniversary lecture, when he was the oldest living member of the society; for this lecture, Young picked the same subject he had talked about 63 years earlier, in 1928.
Publications
- The Life of VertebratesThe Life of VertebratesThe Life of Vertebrates is a noted biology textbook by John Zachary Young.The book grew out of the author's attempt to define what is meant by the life of vertebrates and by the evolution of that life...
. 1st ed 767pp 1950 (corrected 1952 repr); 2nd ed 820pp 1962; 3rd ed 645pp 1981 - Doubt and Certainty in Science, 1950 BBC Reith Lectures.
- Doubt and Certainty in Science, 1951
- The Life of Mammals. 1st ed 820pp 1957; 2nd ed 528pp 1975
- A Model of the Brain, 1964
- The Memory System of the Brain, 1966
- An Introduction to the Study of Man, 1971
- The Anatomy of the Nervous System of Octopus vulgaris, 1971
- Programs of the Brain, 1978 (1975-77 Gifford LecturesGifford LecturesThe Gifford Lectures were established by the will of Adam Lord Gifford . They were established to "promote and diffuse the study of Natural Theology in the widest sense of the term — in other words, the knowledge of God." The term natural theology as used by Gifford means theology supported...
, online) - Philosophy and the Brain, 1987
- Many scientific papers, mostly on the nervous system.