author
Walter B. (Walter Bradford) Cannon
1871–1945
A pioneering American physiologist, he helped shape how we talk about stress and the body’s internal balance. His ideas on the "fight or flight" response and homeostasis became lasting parts of both medicine and everyday language.
1 Audiobook
Bodily changes in pain, hunger, fear, and rage : an account of recent researches into the function of emotional excitement
by Walter B. (Walter Bradford) Cannon
About the author
Born in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, in 1871, Walter Bradford Cannon built his career at Harvard, where he became a professor and later chaired the Department of Physiology at Harvard Medical School. He was an early user of X-rays in physiological research, studying digestion and other bodily processes in ways that opened new paths for modern medical science.
Cannon is best known for explaining the body’s response to danger and strain. He coined the phrase "fight or flight" and developed the concept of homeostasis, the idea that the body works constantly to keep its internal conditions stable. These ideas were brought together for a wide audience in his influential 1932 book The Wisdom of the Body.
Beyond the laboratory, he was remembered as an important American medical researcher and teacher whose work connected physiology, emotion, and survival. He died in 1945, but his language and core insights still shape how people understand stress, health, and the body’s ability to adapt.