Charles Richet was born on August 25, 1850, in Paris, the son of a professor of clinical surgery. As a student, Richet found himself drawn to both the humanities and the sciences. Swayed perhaps by family influence, he entered medical school at the University of Paris, although he continued to write poetry and drama on the side. While at medical school, Richet became involved in studies of hypnotism, of the gastric juices involved in digestion, and of the phenomenon of pain. Deciding on a career in physiology rather than surgery, Richet, after receiving his medical degree in 1877, earned his doctor of science degree in 1878. Soon afterward, he was named a professor of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Paris and immediately began research on muscle contraction. By 1883, he had turned to studies on how warm-blooded animals maintain their constant body temperature, demonstrating that the larger the animal, the...