Some Biogeographers, Evolutionists and Ecologists:
Chrono-Biographical Sketches

Krogh, (Schack) August (Steenberg) (Denmark 1874-1949)
physiology, zoology

Photo courtesy of BioZoom 2000, no. 4.

One of the century's pre-eminent physiologists, August Krogh worked both on human and animal-related subjects. His research on respiration dealt with several of the leading themes in early twentieth century physiology, as may be gathered from the titles of his most important books: The Respiratory Exchange of Animals and Man (1916), The Anatomy and Physiology of Capillaries (1922), and The Comparative Physiology of Respiratory Mechanisms (1941). Krogh's studies had vast implications: for example, his experimental investigations into human stress would make him one of the founders of exercise science, while his research on metabolic processes in marine animals (as described in another classic book, Osmotic Regulation in Aquatic Animals, 1939) would significantly contribute to an improved understanding of the factors underlying the ecology and geographical distribution of aquatic forms.

--born in Grenå, Jutland, Denmark, on 13 November 1874.
--1893: graduates from the Cathedral School of Århus
--1897: becomes an assistant in Christian Bohr's lab
--1899: M.Sc., University of Copenhagen
--1902-1908: visits to Greenland to study the physiology and diet of the Eskimo
--1903: defends thesis on frog respiration at the University of Copenhagen
--1908: made associate professor of zoophysiology at the University of Copenhagen
--1910: publishes seven articles on gas exchange in blood, with Marie Krogh, his wife
--1910: founds the zoophysiology laboratory at the University of Copenhagen
--1913: publishes report on Eskimo metabolism, with Marie Krogh
--1913: publishes "The Regulation of Respiration and Circulation During the Initial Stages of Muscular Work" in the Journal of Physiology, with J. Lindhart
--1916: elected to the Royal Danish Society of Sciences (but later resigns)
--1916-1945: ordinary professor, University of Copenhagen
--1919: publishes "The Number and Distribution of Capillaries in Muscle With Calculations of the Oxygen Pressure Head Necessary for Supplying the Tissue" in the Journal of Physiology
--1920: receives the Nobel Prize in medicine
--1922: visits the United States; gives the Silliman lectures at Yale
--1928: opens new physiology lab with support from the Rockefeller Foundation
--1937: made a foreign member of the Royal Society of London
--1939: publishes his Osmotic Regulation in Aquatic Animals
--1945: retires from the University of Copenhagen
--1945: receives the Baly Medal from the Royal Society of London
--dies at Copenhagen, Denmark, on 13 September 1949.