Leonard Erskine Hill
Encyclopedia
Sir Leonard Erskine Hill (2 June 1866, Bruce Castle
, Tottenham
- 30 March 1952, Corton, Suffolk
) was a British physiologist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1900 and was knighted in 1930. One of his sons was the epidemiologist and statistician Austin Bradford Hill
. His father was George Birkbeck Hill
, the famous scholar and commentator on the works of Samuel Johnson
, who at the time of his birth was head master of Bruce Castle School
.
. He later received his MB from University College, London
in 1890. In 1931, he received an honorary LLD
from the University of Aberdeen
.
, oxygen toxicity
, and effects of carbon dioxide
in diving
.
Hill advocated linear or uniform decompression profiles
. This type of decompression is used today by saturation divers
. His work was financed by Augustus Siebe
and the Siebe Gorman Company
.
at Loughton
where he lived. He later moved to Hampstead
.
Bruce Castle
Bruce Castle is a Grade I listed 16th-century manor house in Lordship Lane, Tottenham, London. It is named after the House of Bruce who formerly owned the land on which it is built. Believed to stand on the site of an earlier building, about which little is known, the current house is one of the...
, Tottenham
Tottenham
Tottenham is an area of the London Borough of Haringey, England, situated north north east of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:Tottenham is believed to have been named after Tota, a farmer, whose hamlet was mentioned in the Domesday Book; hence Tota's hamlet became Tottenham...
- 30 March 1952, Corton, Suffolk
Corton, Suffolk
Corton is a suburb in the town of Lowestoft in the English county of Suffolk. Corton is located around north of the centre of town. The local church is dedicated to St Bartholomew. The estimated population was 1,140 in 2008. It has boundaries with the suburb of Gunton. -Features:Corton is home to...
) was a British physiologist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1900 and was knighted in 1930. One of his sons was the epidemiologist and statistician Austin Bradford Hill
Austin Bradford Hill
Sir Austin Bradford Hill FRS , English epidemiologist and statistician, pioneered the randomized clinical trial and, together with Richard Doll, was the first to demonstrate the connection between cigarette smoking and lung cancer...
. His father was George Birkbeck Hill
George Birkbeck Norman Hill
George Birkbeck Norman Hill , English editor and author, son of Arthur Hill, headmaster of Bruce Castle School, was born at Bruce Castle, Tottenham, Middlesex. He dropped his third name, Norman, publishing as just George Birkbeck Hill; to family and friends he was known as Birkbeck, not as George...
, the famous scholar and commentator on the works of Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
, who at the time of his birth was head master of Bruce Castle School
Bruce Castle School
Bruce Castle School, at Bruce Castle, Tottenham, was a progressive school for boys established in 1827 as an extension of Rowland Hill's Hazelwood School at Edgbaston...
.
Education
Sir Leonard Erskine Hill attended Haileybury CollegeHaileybury and Imperial Service College
Haileybury and Imperial Service College, , is a prestigious British independent school founded in 1862. The school is located at Hertford Heath, near Hertford, from central London, on of parkland occupied until 1858 by the East India College...
. He later received his MB from 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...
in 1890. In 1931, he received an honorary LLD
Legum Doctor
Legum Doctor is a doctorate-level academic degree in law, or an honorary doctorate, depending on the jurisdiction. The double L in the abbreviation refers to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both Canon Law and Civil Law, the double L indicating the plural, Doctor of both...
from the University of Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
.
Medicine
Hill's work on blood pressure led him to believe "the arterial pressure can be taken in man as rapidly, simply, and accurately as the temperature can be taken with the clinical thermometer". This work developed into the Hill's sign.Diving medicine
Hill performed research into decompression sicknessDecompression sickness
Decompression sickness describes a condition arising from dissolved gases coming out of solution into bubbles inside the body on depressurization...
, oxygen toxicity
Oxygen toxicity
Oxygen toxicity is a condition resulting from the harmful effects of breathing molecular oxygen at elevated partial pressures. It is also known as oxygen toxicity syndrome, oxygen intoxication, and oxygen poisoning...
, and effects of carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
in diving
Underwater diving
Underwater diving is the practice of going underwater, either with breathing apparatus or by breath-holding .Recreational diving is a popular activity...
.
Hill advocated linear or uniform decompression profiles
Dive profile
A dive profile is a two dimensional graphical representation of a dive showing depth and time.It is useful as an indication of the risks of decompression sickness and oxygen toxicity and also the volume of open-circuit breathing gas needed for a planned dive as these depend in part upon the depth...
. This type of decompression is used today by saturation divers
Saturation diving
Saturation diving is a diving technique that allows divers to reduce the risk of decompression sickness when they work at great depth for long periods of time....
. His work was financed by Augustus Siebe
Augustus Siebe
Augustus Siebe was a German-born British engineer chiefly known for his contributions to diving equipment.- Contribution to diving :...
and the Siebe Gorman Company
Siebe Gorman
Siebe Gorman & Company Ltd was a British company which developed diving equipment and breathing equipment and worked on commercial diving and marine salvage projects...
.
Other interests
Hill was a distinguished watercolourist and also wrote children's stories. He was fond of the outdoor life, and went every day to bathe in a pond in Epping ForestEpping Forest
Epping Forest is an area of ancient woodland in south-east England, straddling the border between north-east Greater London and Essex. It is a former royal forest, and is managed by the City of London Corporation....
at Loughton
Loughton
Loughton is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located between 11 and 13 miles north east of Charing Cross in London, south of the M25 and west of the M11 motorway and has boundaries with Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill...
where he lived. He later moved to Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
.