Francis Gotch

Francis Gotch

Francis Gotch (* 1853 in Liverpool ; † 1913 ) was a British neurophysiologist .

He was born the only child of a pastor in Liverpool and attended Amersham Hall School and then University College London , where he received his Bachelor of Arts in 1873 and, after moving to the Faculty of Science , a Bachelor of Science two years later . After another change to the medical faculty, he received the Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS) in 1881.

As assistant to John Scott Burdon-Sanderson , he worked on physiological issues, particularly in the area of ​​the muscles and the nervous system . Among other things, he examined the electrical organs of the marble electric ray ( Torpedo marmorata ).

In 1887 he married Victor Horsley's sister , with whom he had a son and three daughters.

In 1891 he became professor of physiology at the University of Liverpool . In 1892 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society . In 1895 he took over from Burdon-Sanderson his professorship in physiology at Oxford University , where he continued to research the physiology of excitable organs, especially nerves, muscles and the retina . Here he received his master's degree in 1896 and his doctorate in 1901 .

He received honorary doctorates from the University of Liverpool in 1907 and from the University of St Andrews in 1911 .

Works

• Alfred J Ewart and Francis Gotch: On the physics and physiology of protoplasmic streaming in plants . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1903.
• The submaximal electrical response of nerve to a single stimulus . London 1902.
• The time relations of the photo-electric changes in the eyeball of the frog . London 1903.

supporting documents

• Obituary in The British Medical journal, PMC 2345461 (free full text)