Description
Reprints (1924-1985) of journal articles by David Bruce Dill, physiologist and informal director (1927-1946) of the Harvard
Fatigue Laboratory, director (1947-1961) of medical research for the U.S. Army Chemical Research and Development Laboratory,
and director of the Laboratory of Patho-Environmental Physiology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Also included are
articles documenting research at the Fatigue Laboratory by other physiologists and visiting researchers, as well as miscellaneous
photographs of physiologists such as L.J. Henderson and Joseph Barcroft. The materials are arranged in three series: 1) HARVARD
FATIGUE LABORATORY REPRINTS, 2) DAVID BRUCE DILL REPRINTS and 3) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS.
Background
The Harvard Fatigue Laboratory, conceived in 1926 by Lawrence J. Henderson, began operation in the fall of 1927 as a laboratory
of human physiology in the Harvard Graduate School of Business. The founding committee included Henderson; Wallace Donham,
dean of the Business School; William Morton Wheeler, professor of entomology at Harvard College; David T. Edsall, dean of
the Medical School; Elton Mayo, professor of industrial research in the Business School; and Arlie Bock, of the Medical School
and the Massachusetts General Hospital. The Fatigue Laboratory sought to study the interrelationship of biophysical and biochemical
activities, the phenomena of fatigue and similar conditions, differences in the physiological pattern, and physiological experiences
as sociological data. Research topics included the physical chemistry of blood, exercise physiology, nutritional interactions,
aging, and the stresses of high altitude and climate.