The Physiological Society
The Physiological Society, founded in 1876, is a learned society for physiologists in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Formation
1876
Support the advancement of physiology
London, England
2500 Members
David Attwell
Dariel Burdass
Annette Dolphin
History[edit]
The Physiological Society was founded in 1876 as a dining society "for mutual benefit and protection" by a group of 19 physiologists, led by John Burdon Sanderson and Michael Foster, as a result of the 1875 Royal Commission on Vivisection and the subsequent 1876 Cruelty to Animals Act.[1] Other founding members included: William Sharpey, Thomas Huxley, George Henry Lewes, Francis Galton, John Marshall, George Murray Humphry, Frederick William Pavy, Lauder Brunton, David Ferrier, Philip Pye-Smith, Walter H. Gaskell, John Gray McKendrick, Emanuel Edward Klein, Edward Schafer, Francis Darwin, George Romanes, and Gerald Yeo. The aim was to promote the advancement of physiology. Charles Darwin and William Sharpey were elected as the society's first two Honorary Members. The society first met at Sanderson's London home. The first rules of the society offered membership to no more than 40, all of whom should be male "working" physiologists.[2] Women were first admitted as members in 1915 and the centenary of this event was celebrated in 2015.[3]
Michael Foster was also founder of The Journal of Physiology in 1878, and was appointed to the first Chair of Physiology at the University of Cambridge in 1883.
The archives are held at the Wellcome Library.[4]
Present day[edit]
The Society consists of over 2500 members, including 14 Nobel Laureates drawn from over 50 countries. The majority of members are engaged in research, in universities or industry, into how the body works in health and disease and in teaching physiology in schools and universities. The Society also facilitates communication between scientists and with other interested groups.
The Physiological Society publishes the academic journals The Journal of Physiology and Experimental Physiology, and with the American Physiological Society publishes the online only, open access journal Physiological Reports.[5] It also publishes the membership magazine Physiology News.
The society is based at Hodgkin Huxley House in Farringdon, London, named after Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley.[6]
The post of president was established in 2001, and the society's current president is David Attwell. Past holders include:[7]