Sir M. (Michael) Foster

Born in Huntingdon in 1836, Michael Foster trained in medicine at University College, London, but became best known for transforming how physiology was taught. Rather than treating biology as a mostly descriptive subject, he championed hands-on laboratory study, an approach that had a lasting effect on scientific teaching in Britain.

At Cambridge, he was instrumental in building what became the Cambridge Biological School, and his students included several scientists who went on to become major figures in their own right. He also served as Secretary of the Royal Society and, later in life, represented the University of London in Parliament.

Foster died in 1907, but his influence lived on through both his teaching and his writing. He is remembered not just as a researcher, but as one of the key organizers and educators who helped turn physiology into a modern experimental discipline.