Stephen Hales

author

Stephen Hales

1677–1761

An English clergyman with a gift for experiment, he helped turn the study of plants and animals into something measurable and precise. His work ranged from plant physiology to air quality, and he is often remembered as an early pioneer in the measurement of blood pressure.

1 Audiobook

An account of a useful discovery to distill double the usual quantity of sea-water, by blowing showers of air up through the distilling liquor : and an account of the great benefit of ventilators in many instances, in preserving the health and lives of people, in slave and other transport ships ... also an account of the good effect of blowing showers of air up through milk, thereby to cure the ill taste which is occasioned by some kinds of food of cows.

An account of a useful discovery to distill double the usual quantity of sea-water, by blowing showers of air up through the distilling liquor : and an account of the great benefit of ventilators in many instances, in preserving the health and lives of people, in slave and other transport ships ... also an account of the good effect of blowing showers of air up through milk, thereby to cure the ill taste which is occasioned by some kinds of food of cows.

by Stephen Hales

About the author

Stephen Hales was born in Kent in 1677 and became an Anglican clergyman, serving for many years in Teddington. Alongside his church work, he built a remarkable scientific career and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

He is best known for bringing careful measurement into biology. His experiments on plant sap, transpiration, and the movement of fluids in animals helped lay foundations for modern plant physiology and experimental physiology. He also carried out early work on blood pressure and wrote influential scientific studies that made him widely respected in his own time.

Hales was interested in practical problems as well as theory. He worked on ventilators designed to improve air in ships, prisons, and hospitals, and he received the Royal Society’s Copley Medal for his research. That mix of curiosity, precision, and public usefulness is a big part of why he is still remembered today.