author

Alexander Forbes

1882–1965

A pioneering Harvard physiologist, he helped shape early electrophysiology while also pursuing an adventurous second life in navigation and aerial mapping. His work ranged from the nervous system to Labrador coast surveys, giving his career an unusually wide reach.

1 Audiobook

The Radio Gunner

The Radio Gunner

by Alexander Forbes

About the author

Alexander Forbes was an American neurophysiologist and electrophysiologist who was born in Milton, Massachusetts, on May 14, 1882, and died there on March 27, 1965. Archival and reference sources describe him as a longtime member of the Harvard Medical School faculty and a pioneer in the development of electrophysiology.

He studied at Harvard, earning his A.B. in 1904, A.M. in 1905, and M.D. in 1910, and he taught physiology at Harvard Medical School from 1910 to 1948. His research focused on the central nervous system, and later summaries of his career credit him with a major influence on twentieth-century physiology and neuroscience.

Forbes also had striking interests beyond the laboratory. Records of his papers note his service with the U.S. Navy in World War I and the Navy Medical Corps Reserve in World War II, as well as his work on navigation and aerial mapping of coastlines, including an expedition to survey northern Labrador in 1931.