Record

Authorised form of nameAdrian; Edgar Douglas (1889 - 1977); 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge; physiologist
Dates1889 - 1977
NationalityBritish
Date of birth30 November 1889
Date of death04/08/1977
Research fieldPhysiology
ActivityEducation:
MA; MD (Camb)
Career:
Lecturer in Physiology, University of Cambridge
Medals and prizes:
Nobel Prize (Physiology or Medicine) 1932
Honours:
OM 1942; Baron 1955
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election03/05/1923
Royal Society activityRoyal Society roles:
For Sec 1946-1950; PRS 1950-1955
Medals and prizes:
Royal Medal 1934; Copley Medal 1946
Lectures:
Croonian 1931; Ferrier 1938
RelationshipsFather of Richard Hume Adrian, 2nd Baron Adrian (FRS 1977)
SourcesSources:
Bulloch's Roll
Obituaries:
Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 1979 vol 25 pp 1-73, plate, by Sir Alan Hodgkin
References:
H G Thornton, 'A Note on the Visit to Russia of the Royal Society Delegation in 1956' in NR 1956-57 vol 12 pp 230-236
Sir Alan Hodgkin, 'Address at the Memorial Service for Lord Adrian, OM, FRS, at Westminster Abbey on 18 October 1977' in NR 1977-8 vol 32 pp 119-121
R V Jones, 'Addendum' in NR 1994 vol 48 p 165
J K Bradley and E M Tansey, 'The Coming of the Electronic Age to the Cambridge Physiological Laboratory: E D Adrian's Valve Amplifier in 1921' in NR 1996 vol 50 pp 217-228, plate
Virtual International Authority File http://viaf.org/viaf/41833544
Royal Society codeNA6618
Archives associated with this Fellow
Reference numberTitleDate
EC/1923/01Adrian, Edgar Douglas, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge: certificate of election to the Royal Society
MM/18/131Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit15 June 1961
MM/18/105Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit3 February 1938
MM/18/112Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit27 April 1945
MM/18/113Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit13 June 1945
MM/18/136Letter from Hester A Adrian to Ragnar Granit25 September 1948
MM/18/135AManuscript draft of speech by E D Adrian at the Inaguration of the Medical Nobel Institute1948
GLB/26/1E D Adrian1954
GLB/26/2E D Adrian1954
IM/GA/WG/9449Presidents 1940-1970nd
MM/18/125Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit26 May 1948
MM/18/99Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit8 December 1934
MM/18/94Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit20 October 1932
MM/18/92Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit15 June 1932
MM/18/93Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit10 October 1932
MM/18/85Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit20 July 1930
MM/18/96Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit23 December 1933
MM/18/122Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit14 February 1948
MM/18/91Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit28 December 1932
MM/18/101Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit20 December 1935
MM/18/102Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit28 December 1936
MM/18/110Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit8 April 1944
MM/18/119Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit6 August 1947
MM/18/120Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit24 December 1947
MM/18/103Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit13 June 1937
MM/18/100Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit4 October 1935
MM/18/129Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit13 November 1952
MM/18/109Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit2 October 1943
MM/18/111Letter from Ragnar Granit to E D Adrian9 April 1945
MM/18/127Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit29 November 1949
MM/18/88Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit19 September 1932
MM/18/124Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit13 April 1948
MM/18/121Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit20 January 1948
MM/18/132Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit31 April 1960
MM/18/104Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit14 February 1937
MM/18/118Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit12 January 1947
MM/18/133Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit14 March 1971
MM/18/97Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit12 December 1934
MM/18/90Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit9 November 1932
MM/18/116Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit16 December 1945
MM/18/86Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit21 November 1930
MM/18/130Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit13 August 1953
MM/18/123Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit17 March 1948
MM/18/126Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit19 September 1948
MM/18/107Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit14 October 1942
MM/18/108Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit10 January 1943
MM/18/84Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit4 May 1930
MM/18/89Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit22 September 1932
MM/18/106Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit21 May 1938
MM/18/117Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit7 June 1946
MM/18/134Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit15 June 1972
MM/18/95Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit16 April 1933
MM/18/115Letter from Ragnar Granit to E D Adrian13 October 1945
OL/19/3Letter from E D Adrian, Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society, to Otto Loewi1 January 1954
NLB/66/47Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir John Rose Bradford, K.C.M.G FRS14 February 1924
HB/13/75Postcard from Professor Adrian, 12 Grange Court, Grange Road, Cambridge, to Henry Barcroft20 December 1946
MM/18/114Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit14 July 1945
MM/18/128Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit17 July 1951
IM/GA/WS/0Adrian, Edgar Douglas, 1st Baron Adriannd
IM/GA/AR/7007Adrian, Edgar Douglas, 1st Baron Adriannd
PIF/A/14Personal information file: Edgar Douglas Adrian1932-1989
MDA/A/16/23Copy letter from David Christie Martin to Thomas Ralph Merton9 July 1953
MDA/A/16/65Report of meeting on United Kingdom and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR] relations7 June 1956
MDA/A/16/20Copy letter from David Christie Martin to Thomas Ralph Merton10 November 1952
MDA/A/16/5Copy letter from David Christie Martin to Thomas Ralph Merton31 July 1951
MDA/A/16/7Copy letter from Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society to Thomas Ralph Merton1 November 1951
RR/32/62Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'Fatigue and plurisegmental innervation of individual muscle fibres' by John F Fulton25 June 1925
RR/35/142Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'The viscous elastic properties of muscle' by A Levin and J WymanJanuary 1927
RR/32/66Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'The mechanism of muscular contraction' by William Edward GarnerAugust 1925
RR/30/50Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'The relation between the durations of the isometric twitch and of the after-action of tetanus' by John Farquhar Fulton18 November 1924
RR/41/2Referee's report by Charles Scott Sherrington, on a paper 'The effects of injury on mammalian nerve fibres' by Edgar Douglad Adrian15 June 1930
RR/39/53Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'The interaction between two trains of impulses converging on the same motoneurone' by Sybil Cooper and D Denny-Brown[July 1929]
RR/63/77Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'Electrotonus and excitation in nerve' by H RosenbergJune 1937
NLB/70/245Copy letter from Henry Hallett Dale, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr [Edgar Douglas] Adrian, FRS15 February 1927
RR/53/111Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'Nerve heat production as a physiological response to excitation' by Archibald Vivian Hill[March 1934]
RR/49/107Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'The rhythm of the heart beat. I—Location, action potential, and electrical excitability of the pacemaker' by John Carew Eccles and H E Hoff[December 1933]
RR/32/61Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'Electrical responses of extensor muscles during postural (myotatic) contraction' by J F Fulton and Edward George Tandy Liddell7 August 1925
RR/30/52Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'Some observations upon the electrical responses and shape of the isometric twitch of skeletal muscle (intact)' by John Farquhar Fulton18 November 1924
RR/63/85Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'The mechanism of the lateral sense organs of fishes' by Alec SandMay 1937
RR/60/51Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'Hearing in insects: The nature of the response of certain receptors to auditory stimuli' by Richard Julius Pumphrey and A F Rawdon-SmithMay 1936
RR/56/16Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'The strength-duration relation for electric excitation of medullated nerve' by Archibald Vivian Hill[December 1935]
RR/63/76Second referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'Electrotonus and excitation in nerve' by H RosenbergAugust 1937
RR/58/11Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'Nerve excitation by alternating current' by Archibald Vivian Hill, B Katz and D Y SolandtJune 1936
RR/54/94Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'Outline of a physio-mathematical theory of the brain' by N Rashevsky27 January 1934
RR/56/114Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'The measurement of “accommodation” in nerve' by D Y Solandt[December 1935]
RR/65/227Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'The function of the ampullae of Lorenzini, with some observations on the effect of temperature on sensory rhythms' by Alec SandMay 1938
NLB/64/546Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr. [Edgar Douglas] Adrian, FRS02 May 1923
RR/72/139Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'The initiation of nerve impulses by mesenteric Pacinian corpuscles' by John Archibald Browne Gray and J L Malcolm1949
RR/62/26Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'A comparison of various methods of measuring the time-constant of accommodation of Nerve' by D Y Solandt[March 1936]
NLB/65/232Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr [Edgar Douglas] Adrian [Baron Adrian of Cambridge], FRS; Trinity College, Cambridge25 September 1923
NLB/67/264Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir John Rose Bradford, KCMG, FRS24 November 1924
NLB/65/456Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr [Edgar Douglas] Adrian, FRS2 November 1923
RR/30/83Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'The postural influence of the sympathetic nervous system' by John I Hunter[January 1924]
NLB/67/259Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir John Rose Bradford, KCMG, FRS24 November 1924
NLB/65/840Copy letter from William Bate Hardy, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr [Edgar Douglas] Adrian, FRS17 January 1924
RR/30/51Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'The influence of tension upon the electrical responses of muscle to repetitive stimuli' by John Farquhar Fulton18 November 1924
NLB/67/214Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir John Rose Bradford, KCMG, FRS13 November 1924
NLB/67/592Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir John Rose Bradford, KCMG, FRS26 January 1925
NLB/70/399Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr [Edgar Douglas] Adrian, FRS23 March 1927
NLB/69/839Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr. [Edgar Douglas] Adrian, FRS29 October 1926
NLB/68/567Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir John Rose Bradford, KCMG, FRS10 August 1925
NLB/70/285Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr [Edgar Douglas] Adrian, FRS22 February 1927
NLB/69/920Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr. [Edgar Douglas] Adrian FRS17 November 1926
NLB/69/840Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; E. F. Knapp Fisher Esq., Chapter Clerks Office, The Sanctuary, Westminster Abbey, SW129 October 1926
NLB/70/749Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr [Edgar Douglas] Adrian, FRS21 July 1927
NLB/72/39Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr [Edgar Douglas] Adrian, FRS25 January 1929
NLB/72/129Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr [Edgar Douglas] Adrian, FRS15 April 1929
NLB/73/105Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Prof. [Edgar Douglas] Adrian, FRS4 December 1930
NLB/67/287Copy letter from William Bate Hardy, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Hugh [Kerr] Anderson, FRS1 December 1924
GLB/65/22/15Brown to Lord Adrian, Trinity College, Cambridge5 August 1955
MM/18/98Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit27 March 1934
MM/18/83Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit20 February 1930
MM/18/137Letter from Richard Adrian to Ragnar Granit29 August 1977
MM/18/87Letter from E D Adrian to Ragnar Granit27 November 1932
IM/000034Adrian, Edgar Douglas, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridgend
IM/000036Adrian, Edgar Douglas, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridgec 1950
IM/001235Eccles, Sir John Carew1957
MDA/A/16/18Letter from David Chrisite Martin to Thomas Ralph Merton, The Royal Society, Burlington House22 September 1952
RR/28/52Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'The determination of the factor of the kata-thermometer' by T C Angus20 November 1923
RR/47/26Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'The rhythmic discharge of motoneurones' by John Carew Eccles and H E HoffFebruary 1932
RR/65/3Referee's report by Hamilton Hartridge, on a paper 'The electrical response of the auditory mechanism in cold-blooded vertebrates' by Edgar Douglas Adrian, K J W Craik and R S SturdyMay 1938
RR/57/80Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'On the changes in histological structure and electrical response of the cochlea of the cat following section of the VIIIth nerve' by D W Ashcroft, Charles Skinner Hallpike and A F Rawdon-Smith[October 1936]
RR/64/40Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'On the response of the human ear to audio-frequency electrical stimulation' by Charles Skinner Hallpike and Hamilton Hartridge[April 1937]
WF/41Grant application from the Institute of Criminology to the Wolfson FoundationJanuary 1959- July 2005
NLB/67/637Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir John Rose Bradford, KCMG, FRS4 February 1925
NLB/65/861Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir John Rose Bradford, KCMG, FRS18 January 1924
IM/000033Adrian, Edgar Douglas, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridgend
IM/000035Adrian, Edgar Douglas, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge1955
IM/000030Adrian, Edgar Douglas, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridgend
IM/000032Adrian, Edgar Douglas, 1st Baron Adrian of CambridgeMarch 1964
IM/006417Group photograph of Officers of the Royal Society 1945-50c 1945-50
PB/1/33/2Correspondence concerning the Copley Medal of the Royal Society1956
MDA/A/16/51Minutes of the British Committee for Cooperation with UNESCO in the Natural Sciences16 May 1956
MDA/C/5/1Correspondence and papers relating to the Curl Trust1938-1952
RR/49/113Second referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'The rhythm of the heart beat. III—Disturbances of rhythm produced by early premature beats' by John Carew Eccles and H E Hoff[April 1934]
IM/000031Composite photograph of selection of presidents from the 20th
centuary
nd
IM/002442Group Photographnd
RR/28/89Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'The significance of an achondroplasia-like condition met with in cattle' by Francis Albert Eley Crew[May 1923]
RR/59/96Second referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'Electrical activity of the central nervous system of the frog' by R W Gerard and John Zachary Young[December 1936]
RR/51/98Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'Some features of the action of the utricular maculæ (and of the associated action of the semicircular canals) of the frog' by John Tait and W J McNally6 August 1933
RR/51/101Second referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'Some features of the action of the utricular maculæ (and of the associated action of the semicircular canals) of the frog' by John Tait and W J McNally[January 1934]
RR/62/43Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'On sensory and motor correlations in the urinary bladder and the urethra' by M Talaat[March 1936]
MDA/C/10/3Correspondence of the Gassiot Committee1947-1953
RR/31/49Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'The problem of treatment of spastic paralysis. An experimental and clinical study' by [Norman] D Royle[January 1924]
RR/31/64Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'Further observations on myotatic reflexes' by Edward George Tandy Liddell and Charles Scott Sherrington18 November 1924
RR/32/86Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'Recruitment and some other features of reflex inhibition' by Edward George Tandy Liddell and Charles Scott Sherrington1 February 1925
RR/41/80Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'A comparative study of the brains in British cyprinoids in relation to their habits of feeding, with special reference to the anatomy of the medulla oblongata' by H Muir EvansDecember 1930
RR/49/108Second referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'The rhythm of the heart beat. I—Location, action potential, and electrical excitability of the pacemaker' by John Carew Eccles and H E Hoff[April 1934]
RR/49/110Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'The rhythm of the heart beat. II—Disturbance of rhythm produced by late premature beats' by John Carew Eccles and H E Hoff[December 1933]
RR/49/111Second referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'The rhythm of the heart beat. II—Disturbance of rhythm produced by late premature beats' by John Carew Eccles and H E Hoff[April 1934]
RR/49/112Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'The rhythm of the heart beat. III—Disturbances of rhythm produced by early premature beats' by John Carew Eccles and H E Hoff[December 1933]
RR/53/38Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'The action of potassium and other ions on the injury potential and action current in maia nerve' by S L Cowan[March 1934]
RR/59/95Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian of Cambridge, on a paper 'Electrical activity of the central nervous system of the frog' by R W Gerard and John Zachary Young4 November 1936
RR/60/15Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'On the electrical responses of the cochlea and the auditory tract of the cat to a phase reversal produced in a continuous musical tone' by Charles Skinner Hallpike, Hamilton Hartridge and A F Rawdon-SmithOctober 1936
RR/65/288Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'Fused neurons and synaptic contacts in the giant nerve fibres of cephalopods' by John Zachary YoungNovember 1938
RR/67/277Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'The mechanism of the semicircular canal. A study of the responses of single-fibre preparations to angular accelerations and to rotation at constant speed' by Otto Egon Löwenstein and Alec SandMay 1940
RR/71/121Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian, on a paper 'Hearing. I. The cochlea as a frequency analyzer' by Thomas Gold and Richard Julius Pumphrey24 April 1948
P/0001Portrait of Adrian, Edgar Douglas; Baron Adrian of Cambridge1955
RR/76/31Referee's report by Edgar Douglas Adrian, on a paper 'The sizes of the nerve fibres of muscle nerves' by V S V Fernand and John Zachary Young9 May 1951
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