Haldane, John Scott (1860–1936)

Scottish physiologist. His studies of the exchange of gases during respiration led to an interest in the health hazards of coal mining and deep-sea diving. His aim was to bridge the gap between theoretical and applied science.

Haldane devised methods for studying respiration and the blood – the Haldane gas analyser and an apparatus for determining the blood gas content. Having investigated the danger to miners of suffocation, he turned to the toxicity of carbon monoxide, which is usually present in mines after an explosion, and showed that haemoglobin in the red blood cells binds this gas in preference to oxygen.

In 1905 Haldane proposed that breathing is controlled by the concentration of carbon dioxide in arterial blood acting on the respiratory centre of the brain. In 1907 he announced the technique of decompression by stages which is still used today to allow deep-sea divers to surface safely. He also researched the reaction of the kidneys to the water content of the blood, and the physiology of sweating.

Haldane was born and educated in Edinburgh. He was director of the Mining Research Laboratory (first in Doncaster, then in Birmingham) 1913–28. He also lectured at various universities in the UK, the USA, and Ireland.