Philip Showalter Hench, an American clinical pathologist, performed groundbreaking research in rheumatoid arthritis. His clinical tests of adrenal compound E, which Hench named cortisone, and of ACTH, which produces cortisone naturally by stimulating the adrenal cortex, offered the first hope for patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Hench and his colleague, biochemist Edward C. Kendall, gained immediate worldwide attention when they filmed the miraculous recovery of arthritis patients--some of whom could barely walk--as they climbed stairs and even jogged in place. Although prolonged clinical trials showed that neither cortisone or ACTH was a viable long-term therapy for arthritis due to side effects such as high blood pressure and high glucose levels, Hench's efforts opened new vistas in medical research, particularly in the study of both hormones and rheumatoid arthritis. A meticulous researcher who methodically collected his clinical data before publishing his results, Hench shared the 1950 Nobel Prize in physiology...