The American physiologist Joseph Erlanger (1874-1965) made fundamental discoveries about the way in which nerve impulses are conducted.

Joseph Erlanger, the son of Herman and Sarah Erlanger, was born on Jan. 5, 1874, in San Francisco, Calif. He studied chemistry at the University of California, where he received his bachelor's degree, and then went on to Johns Hopkins University for his medical training. After he was awarded his medical degree (1899), he spent a year as a hospital resident. Between 1900 and 1906 he worked in the department of physiology at Johns Hopkins, successively holding appointments as assistant, instructor, associate, and associate professor.

In 1906 Erlanger moved to the newly established medical school at the University of Wisconsin, where he was the first professor of physiology. Shortly afterward he married Aimee Hirstel. In 1910 he became professor at Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., where he remained until his retirement in 1946.

Erlanger's early interest was in...