Charles Scott Sherrington
The neuroscientist who mapped the conversation between neurons, giving us the synapse and a new understanding of the brain's integrated action.
1857–1952 (age 95)·English footballer, neurophysiologist and Nobel Prize recipient·Birthday: November 27
Biography
Charles Scott Sherrington approached the nervous system not as a mere anatomist, but as a cartographer of function. In his meticulous laboratory work, he deciphered the logic of spinal reflexes, revealing them as elegant circuits of excitation and inhibition between connected nerve cells. To describe the critical junction where these cells communicated, he reached for the Greek to coin a now-fundamental word: the synapse. His vision was grandly synthetic; he saw the brain and spinal cord as a unified system that integrated countless signals to produce coordinated action. This revolutionary perspective was crystallized in his 1906 masterpiece, 'The Integrative Action of the Nervous System,' a work that effectively founded modern neurophysiology. Knighted for his contributions and awarded a Nobel Prize in 1932, Sherrington provided the conceptual framework upon which all subsequent brain science has been built.
#1 When Charles Was Born
The biggest hits of 1857
Charles's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1857Born
1862Started school
President: Abraham Lincoln
1870Became a teenager
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1873Could drive
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1875Could vote
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1878Turned 21
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1887Turned 30
President: Grover Cleveland
1897Turned 40
President: William McKinley
1907Turned 50
Financial panic grips Wall Street
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1917Turned 60
Russian Revolution overthrows the tsar; US enters WWI
President: Woodrow Wilson
1927Turned 70
Lindbergh flies solo across the Atlantic; The Jazz Singer premieres
President: Calvin Coolidge"My Blue Heaven" — Gene Austin
1937Turned 80
Hindenburg disaster; Golden Gate Bridge opens
Gas: $0.20/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" — Ella FitzgeraldBest Picture: The Life of Emile Zola
1952Died at 95
Queen Elizabeth II ascends the throne
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,350Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Blue Tango" — Leroy AndersonBest Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth
Key Achievements
- Coined the term 'synapse' to describe the junction between two neurons.
- Authored the seminal work 'The Integrative Action of the Nervous System,' which unified the study of neurophysiology.
- Received the 1932 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries regarding neuron function.
- Elucidated the principles of reciprocal innervation and synaptic inhibition in spinal reflexes.
Did You Know?
Before focusing on science, he was a talented athlete and played football for Ipswich Town.
He was a gifted poet and published a collection of his verse later in life.
Sherrington turned down the position of Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford to stay in physiology.
He was a mentor to future Nobel laureate John Eccles.
“The brain is an enchanted loom where millions of flashing shuttles weave a dissolving pattern.”
