Congratulations, APS! 125 and counting …

Abstract

Readers of a certain age who spent their formative years in the United Kingdom will be familiar with the number ‘125’– the name affixed to the first high speed intercity trains. These conveyances, somewhat futuristic in appearance and definitely more luxurious than the standard British Rail model of the day, massively shortened the time it took to get around Britain, being designed to travel at 125 miles per hour. Their speed was the result, in part, of having two engines – one to pull and one to push. The 125 came to mind recently in the context of another celebration of that number. The American Physiological Society (APS) this month celebrates the 125th anniversary of its founding, in 1887. The 125 train is an interesting metaphor for a professional society that is speeding into the future, pulled in the post-genomic era by the need to understand how living systems actually function, and yet pushed by the huge body of physiological knowledge that the society and its members have generated since the APS was founded. Experimental physiology owes its roots to Europe – particularly Germany, but also France and Great Britain. Late in the 19th century, the discipline was starting to take hold also in the United States, fuelled by a number of physicians (and fewer scientists) who had completed part of their training in Europe, or indeed were themselves European migrants. Medical education was also in transition, with a move away from proprietary medical schools designed to enrich their professor-owners and towards institutions that were University-affiliated, and focused not only on teaching, but also on research. Most of the founding members of the APS were MDs who spent only part of their time teaching physiology – several had also begun to establish physiological laboratories for their own research, but many earned their living from patient care. The formation of the Congress of American Physicians and Surgeons, designed as an alternative to the large and politicized meetings of the American Medical Association and intended to promote medical research, was also a trigger for the founding of the APS. Physiology as a discipline would not be able to be represented at the first congress, scheduled for 1888, unless it established a national society. Interestingly, it was the only basic science society to join the group, underscoring the close affiliation of physiology with clinical medicine that continues to this day. Five men are credited with founding the APS: S. Weir Mitchell, Henry Pickering Bowditch, Henry Newell Martin, Russell H. Chittenden and John Green Curtis. Twenty-three colleagues joined them as original members when the Society was founded in December 1887, and Bowditch became the first President. The APS took as its model The Physiological Society, founded in 1876 as the first national physiological society in response to the rising threat of anti-vivisectionists. Then, as now, both societies recognized the importance of humane animal experimentation. In addition, the APS was unusual in that it required its members to have conducted and published original research in physiology, probably the first professional society in the US to do so. This was a risky step for the young society, since physiology faculty members in the medical schools of the day were mostly not required to conduct research, and thus many were ineligible for membership. Nevertheless, the decision is credited with establishing a high standard for the APS that clearly enhanced its credibility. The requirement also underscored an additional link with The Physiological Society and this journal, since the American Journal of Physiology (AJP) would not be established for another 11 years, and many of the early members of APS were elected, at least in part, on the basis of papers published in The Journal of Physiology. Bowditch alone published eight papers in The Journal from 1878 to 1890, on topics as varied as heart contractility and the knee-jerk reflex. The APS can point to numerous accomplishments in its 125 years of existence. In its first quarter century, it began to meet annually with other recently formed biological societies, at least two of which (those of the biochemists and pharmacologists) were offshoots of the APS. Indeed, in 1912 the APS and these daughter societies were founding members of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, which coincidentally is therefore celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The membership rolls included many famous names in physiology, such as Walter Cannon, who of course advanced the concept of homeostasis that was originally mooted by Claude Bernard. This period also saw the APS taking on the sponsorship of the AJP (1898), which it would come to own in 1914. Profit from the journal later allowed the society to found what many consider its flagship publication, Physiological Reviews, which now enjoys one of the highest impact factors of any biomedical journal. The second quarter century also saw a dramatic growth in the number of members as well as the number of papers presented at the APS annual meeting (approximately threefold and 10-fold, respectively). The APS also spearheaded organization of the XIII International Physiological Congress in Boston in 1929, which showcased the rapid rise of the discipline in the Americas and counted Pavlov, then aged almost 80, among its delegates (with the benefit of a travel grant!). Interestingly, however, the APS eschewed involvement in the ongoing battle with anti-vivisectionists during this period, feeling that it should focus almost exclusively on research matters via meetings and publications. This stance was to change, however, after the Second World War, with the APS seeing an obligation to speak out on the value of animal experimentation, and also taking on a wide range of other issues important to physiologists, such as education. This was truly the period when the modern APS emerged. Today it numbers more than 10,000 members and oversees a publishing programme with 14 distinct journals. It is remarkable, however, reviewing the history of the APS, how themes that were evident at its founding persist today. There has always been turmoil over the precise definition of a physiologist as well as some degree of angst over the future of the discipline. Tensions remain between those interested in the discipline on the basis of its medical implications and those who espouse a broader view, embracing (for example) comparative physiology and ecology. This echoes the fact that the APS based its initial structure and constitution not only on that of The Physiological Society, but also on that of the American Society of Naturalists. Similarly, although the molecular revolution could not have been envisaged in 1887, the founding members would doubtless resonate with debates on the value of reductionism vs. integrative approaches to understanding biology. Another enduring aspect is the special relationship with the key model for the APS, The Physiological Society. Ties between the two societies, in fact, are closer than ever, with the leadership collaborating on a number of projects to promote the discipline worldwide. On the other hand, some aspects of the modern APS would be entirely surprising to the founders. For example, it took 15 years after its founding for the APS to elect the first woman to its ranks (Ida Henrietta Hyde – interestingly, she published a paper in the first issue of AJP), and another 73 years before the first woman (Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen) took the helm as President. But now women currently number more than a quarter of the membership and this anniversary year will see back to back female Presidents (Susan Barman followed by one of the authors of this editorial (K.E.B.)). Similarly, the significant involvement of the Society in political advocacy, outreach to schools, and debates on the future of scholarly publishing would doubtless raise some eyebrows among the more conservative founders. Nevertheless, the core mission of the APS, to ‘integrate the life sciences from molecule to organism’ remains unchanged, and of course is entirely congruent with the mission of this journal. In this vein, The Journal of Physiology is delighted to congratulate our APS colleagues on their signal anniversary, and to look forward to the next 125 years of accomplishments. The 125 rolls onward!