Forbes, Alexander, 1882-1965

Forbes graduated from Harvard in 1904 and taught physiology at Harvard.

From the description of Papers of Alexander Forbes, ca. 1924. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 236232211

Alexander Forbes, 1882-1965, M.D., 1910, Harvard Medical School; was Professor of Physiology at Harvard Medical School and a pioneer in the development of electrophysiology. He taught at Harvard Medical School from 1910 to 1948. In addition to his medical research on the function of the central nervous system, he studied and wrote about navigation with special emphasis on aerial mapping of coastlines. He served with the U.S. Navy in World War I and the Navy Medical Corps Reserve in World War II.

From the description of Papers, 1827, 1835, 1848-1978 (inclusive), 1910-1946 (bulk) (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 423477070

Alexander Forbes (Harvard, A.B. 1904; A.M. 1905; M.D. 1910), a professor of physiology at Harvard Medical School, organized an expedition to survey the northern third of the Labrador coast in the summer of 1931 which included the making of more then 500 photos with a Fairchild survey camera from the Waco plant. A report of the expedition was published in the Geographical review 22 (Jan. 1932); 30-60. The results of the Labrador work were published in: Northernmost Laborador mapped from the air by Alexander Forbes, with contributions by O.M. Miller, N.E. Odell, and Ernst C. Abbe, American Geographical Society Special publication no. 22, 1938.

From the description of Photographs from survey of Labrador coast, 1931. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 40879915

Alexander Forbes (1882-1965) was a pioneer in neurophysiology research in the United States. A member of the department of physiology at Harvard Medical School for over thirty-five years, his professional papers from 1910 to 1946 are the core of the Alexander Forbes Archive in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine. The majority of the material in the 136 manuscript boxes is divided into two subject fields: neurophysiology and navigation with a special emphasis on aerial mapping of coastlines. In addition there is a small quantity of material on the controversy over the introduction of ether anesthesia and on the Drinker-Emerson respirator patent dispute. Personal biographical material is limited.

• 1882: Born May 14 in Milton, Mass., to William Hathaway Forbes, first president of Bell Telephone Company, and Edith Emerson Forbes, daughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson
• 1899: Graduated from Milton Academy
• 1899 - 1900 : Spent traveling abroad and camping in Wyoming with hopes for reversing the progressive deafness due to otitis
• 1904: Graduated form Harvard with B.A.
• 1905: Earned M.A. from Harvard
• 1905 - 1906 : Spent in Wyoming
• 1905 - 1965 : Director of the George Jr. Republic, Freeville, N.Y.
• 1910: Graduated from Harvard Medical School with M.D. Married June 9 to Charlotte Irving Grinnell
• 1910 - 1911 : Appointed Instructor in Physiology, Harvard Medical School
• 1911 - 1912 : Spent six months with Charles S. Sherrington at the University of Liverpool and three weeks with Keith Lucas at Cambridge University
• 1912 - 1921 : Appointed Instructor in Physiology, Harvard Medical School
• 1916: Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 1917 - 1919 : Lieutenant (j.g.), U.S. Naval Reserve, detached for radio compass installation on destroyers
• 1921: Studied with Edgar D. Adrian at Cambridge University
• 1921 - 1936 : Appointed Associate Professor of Physiology, Harvard Medica School
• 1923: Elected American Geographical Society Fellow
• 1924: Published anonymous novel, The Radio Gunner
• 1929: Earned his airplane pilot's license
• 1930: Cruised to Bermuda
• 1931: Visited Charles S. Sherrington and John Eccles at Oxford University
• 1931: Cruised to Labrador for aerial mapping project with O. M. Miller of the American Geographical Society
• 1931: Elected to American Philosophical Society
• 1933: Cruised to Naples
• 1934: Cruised the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas
• 1935: Flew to Labrador to complete mapping project Published Offshore Navigation in its Simplist Form
• 1936: Elected to National Academy of Science
• 1936: Received Aero Club of New England Award
• 1936 - 1948 : Appointed Professor of Neurophysiology, Harvard Medical School
• 1938: Published Northernmost Labrador: Mapped from the Air
• 1938: Received Charles P. Daly Award, American Geographical Society
• 1939: Flew Professor V. Tanner to Labrador for economic survey
• 1940 - 1945 : Lt. Commander to Captain, USNR (Medical Corps) detached to Army then to Naval Hydrographic Office with service in Pensacola, Labrador, Virginia, Panama, Bikini, and Washington, D.C.
• 1946: Returned to Harvard Medical School but continue on civilian contract to analyze Bikini photos for several months
• 1948: Elected Professor Emeritus and moved his research laboratory to Cambridge in the Biological Laboratories
• 1952: Award honorary Doctor of Science, Tufts University
• 1953: Published Quest for a Northern Air Route
• 1954: Awarded honorary Doctor of Science, Johns Hopkins University
• 1963: Received Karl Spencer Lashley Award, the American Philosophical Society
• 1965: Died at home in Milton on March 27

From the guide to the Papers, 1827, 1835, 1848-1978 (inclusive), 1910-1946 (bulk), (Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine. Center for the History of Medicine.)

Alexander Forbes, a professor of physiology at Harvard Medical School, organized an expedition to survey the northern third of the Labrador coast in the summer of 1931. The expedition consisted of the schooner Ramah and two airplanes, a Fairchild cabin monoplane and a smaller Waco biplane. Osborn Maitland Miller developed an approach for using aerial photography to map the area and oversaw the extensive surveying efforts, which included the making of more than 500 photos with a Fairchild survey camera from the Waco plant. The expedition also had a geologist, N.E. Odell, and a botanist, Ernst Cleveland Abbe, in addition to a number of crew members; Forbes was skipper of the Ramah. A report of the expedition was published in the Geographical Review 22 (Jan. 1932): 30-60.

The expedition's work was continued in the summer of 1932 by a survey of a portion of the coast south of the area explored the previous year. This was led by Charles J. Hubbard (Forbes did not participate), and a comparable number of photographs were made.

In the summer of 1935, Forbes and Hubbard flew from Boston to Cape Chidley to fill in gaps that had been found in the previous surveys. The results of the Labrador work were published in Northernmost Labrador Mapped from the Air by Alexander Forbes, with contributions by O.M. Miller, N.E. Odell, and Ernst C. Abbe, American Geographical Society Special Publication No. 22, 1938. This report concentrated on the 1931 work and was accompanied by a set of maps and navigational notes.

From the guide to the Photographs from survey of Labrador coast, 1931, (Botany Libraries)