Harold Saxton Burr (April 18, 1889 – February 17, 1973) was E. K. Hunt Professor of Anatomy at

Yale University School of Medicine The Yale School of Medicine is the graduate medical school at Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1810 as the Medical Institution of Yale College and formally opened in 1813. The primary te ...

and researcher into bio-electrics.

Early life

He was born in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

in 1889, to parents Hanford Burr and Clara Saxton. He studied in public schools and at the Technical High School in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1908 he was admitted to the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale and received his

Ph.B. Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil, BPh, or PhB; la, Baccalaureus Philosophiae or ) is the title of an academic degree that usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects. Unlike many other bachelor's ...

in 1911. On December 27 of that year, in Chicago, he married Jean Chandler, with whom he had a son, Peter. In 1914 he was appointed Instructor in Anatomy at Yale. He studied for his Ph.D. under

Ross Granville Harrison Ross Granville Harrison (January 13, 1870 – September 30, 1959) was an American biologist and anatomist credited for his pioneering work on animal tissue culture. His work also contributed to the understanding of embryonic development. Harrison ...

, which he received in 1915. He was a teacher at Yale until 1958, becoming an Assistant Professor in 1919, an Associate Professor in 1926, and Professor in 1929. Most of his later life was spent in New Haven.

Academic career

From 1916 to 1956, Burr published, either alone or with others, ninety-three scientific papers. Early studies mostly focused upon the development of the meninges and other

neural In Biology, biology, the nervous system is the Complex system, highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its Behavior, actions and Sense, sensory information by transmitting action potential, signals to and from different parts of its ...

bodies, often studying the amblystoma or larval

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten ...

. In 1932 his observations of neuro-cellular proliferation in the amblystoma led him to propose "An Electro-Dynamic Theory of Development" for which he is now most widely remembered. In 1935 he published (with

F. S. C. Northrop Filmer Stuart Cuckow Northrop (November 27, 1893 in Janesville, Wisconsin – July 22, 1992 in Exeter, New Hampshire) was an American legal philosopher and influential comparative philosopher. After receiving a B.A. from Beloit College in 19 ...

) "The Electro-Dynamic Theory of Life" and (with C. T. Lane) "Electrical Characteristics of Living Systems". Burr is noted for his use of the

voltmeter A voltmeter is an instrument used for measuring electric potential difference between two points in an electric circuit. It is connected in parallel. It usually has a high resistance so that it takes negligible current from the circuit. Ana ...

to detect the

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

potential of the body, first reported upon in his 1936 paper (with C. T. Lane and L. F. Nims) "A Vacuum Tube Micro-voltmeter for the Measurement of Bio-electric Phenomena". Burr proposed the term "L-Field" for the bio-electric fields of

living systems Living systems are open self-organizing life forms that interact with their environment. These systems are maintained by flows of information, energy and matter. In the last few decades, some scientists have proposed that a general living systems ...

. In 1942, Burr measured the output of electric current by growing

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

and reported "electricity seems to bridge the gap between the lifeless world and living matter... electricity is one of the fundamental factors in all living systems just as it is in the non-living world." Burr's research contributed to the electrical detection of cancer cells, experimental

embryology Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, '' -logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos and ...

neuroanatomy Neuroanatomy is the study of the structure and organization of the nervous system. In contrast to animals with radial symmetry, whose nervous system consists of a distributed network of cells, animals with bilateral symmetry have segregated, defin ...

, and the regeneration and development of the nervous system. His studies of the bio-electrics of

ovulation Ovulation is the release of eggs from the ovaries. In women, this event occurs when the ovarian follicles rupture and release the secondary oocyte ovarian cells. After ovulation, during the luteal phase, the egg will be available to be fertilized ...

and

menstruation Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and mucosal tissue from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized by the rise and fall of hor ...

eventually led to the marketing of fertility-indicating devices. His late studies of the electrodynamics of trees, carried out over decades, suggested

entrainment Entrainment may refer to: * Air entrainment, the intentional creation of tiny air bubbles in concrete * Brainwave entrainment, the practice of entraining one's brainwaves to a desired frequency * Entrainment (biomusicology), the synchronization o ...

to diurnal, lunar and annual cycles. He also contributed a few papers on the history and sociology of his field. Burr's book, ''The Nature of Man and the Meaning of Existence'' (1962) was an attack against

materialist Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materialis ...

philosophy. In the book Burr wrote there is order in the universe, unity in the organism and man is endowed with a soul. His book ''Blueprint for Immortality'', published late in his career though he based it upon work carried out over decades, contended that the electro-dynamic fields of all living things, which may be measured and mapped with standard voltmeters, mold and control each organism's development, health, and mood. He named these fields ''fields of life'' or L-Fields. Burr compared the L-field to the entelechy of

Hans Driesch Hans Adolf Eduard Driesch (28 October 1867 – 17 April 1941) was a German biologist and philosopher from Bad Kreuznach. He is most noted for his early experimental work in embryology and for his neo-vitalist philosophy of entelechy. He has also ...

and the

morphogenetic field In the developmental biology of the early twentieth century, a morphogenetic field is a group of cells able to respond to discrete, localized biochemical signals leading to the development of specific morphological structures or organs. The sp ...

Hans Spemann Hans Spemann (; 27 June 1869 – 9 September 1941) was a German embryologist who was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1935 for his student Hilde Mangold's discovery of the effect now known as embryonic induction, an influence, e ...

and Paul Weiss. Burr used the L-field to explain

cellular differentiation Cellular differentiation is the process in which a stem cell alters from one type to a differentiated one. Usually, the cell changes to a more specialized type. Differentiation happens multiple times during the development of a multicellular ...

and the

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data ...

of living organisms. According to writer Ruby Khoo in the ''New Straits Times,'' Burr's theory has been rejected by "most scientists." Burr's research was continued by Leonard J. Ravitz, a physician who had worked with Burr at Yale. Ravitz has written that ovulation, illness, cuts and scratches can affect readings of the L-field.

Personal life

Burr was a keen amateur painter of waterscapes and

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

s. His early work shows the influence of his friend George Bruestle while his later paintings, now often in pastel rather than oil, became more abstract in design. He exhibited at the

Lyme Art Association Lyme Art Association (LAA) is a non-profit art organization established in 1914, with roots going back to 1902. The organization maintains a historic art gallery located at 90 Lyme Street in the Old Lyme Historic District, Old Lyme, Connecticut. T ...

from 1926–1946 and at the New Haven Paint and Clay Club from 1930-1946.

Selected publications

* — (1932). ''An Electro-Dynamic Theory of Development Suggested by Studies of Proliferation Rates in the Brain of Amblystoma''. Journal of Comparative Neurology 56: 347-371. * —; Northrop, F. S. C. (1935). ''The Electro-Dynamic Theory of Life''. ''Quarterly Review of Biology'' 10: 322-333. * —; Lane, C. T. (1935)
''Electrical Characteristics of Living Systems''
Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine 8: 31-35 *—; Lane, C. T; Nims, L. F. (1936)
''A Vacuum Tube Micro-voltmeter for the Measurement of Bio-electric Phenomena''
Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine 10: 65-76. * —; Hovland, C. I. (1937)
''Bio-Electric Potential Gradients in the Chick''
Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine 9: 247-258. * —; Northrop, F. S. C. (1939)
''Evidence for the Existence of an Electro-Dynamic Field in Living Organisms''
Proceedings National Academy of Science 25: 284-288. * — (1947). ''Field Theory in Biology''. The Scientific Monthly 64: 217-225. * — ''The Nature of Man and the Meaning of Existence''. (1962). Thomas. * — ''Blueprint for Immortality''. (1972). Neville Spearman. * — ''The Fields of Life. Our Links with the Universe''. (1973). Ballantine Books.

Early life

Academic career

Personal life

Selected publications

References

See also