http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt9p3007ds No online items L. G. C. E. Pugh Papers Special Collections & Archives Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Copyright 2005 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla 92093-0175 [email protected] URL: http://libraries.ucsd.edu/collections/sca/index.html L. G. C. E. Pugh Papers MSS 0491 1 Descriptive Summary Languages: English Contributing Institution: Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla 92093-0175 Title: L. G. C. E. Pugh Papers Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0491 Physical Description: 43.5 Linear feet88 archives boxes, 1 record carton, 5 card files and 48 oversize folders Date (inclusive): 1940 - 1986 Abstract: The papers of L.G.C.E. Pugh, a British physiologist and mountaineer who combined field and laboratory research in pioneering work in modern high-altitude physiology and sports medicine. Pugh conducted studies on the impact of the environment on human physiology and performance during the 1952 British Himalayan Expedition to Mt. Cho Oyu, the 1953 British Himalayan Expedition to Mt. Everest, the 1960-1961 Himalayan Scientific and Mountaineering Expedition to Mt. Everest, and the 1957-1958 Trans-Antarctic Expedition. His research interests were altitude, temperature and exertion. The data he obtained on Mt. Cho Oyu demonstrated the importance of adequate hydration and oxygen, findings that were crucial to the first successful climb of Mt. Everest in 1953. Pugh was the lead scientist on that expedition, and, with Edmund Hillary, he co-led the 1960-1961 Himalayan Scientific and Mountaineering Expedition, ("Silver Hut'), which spent five months at 19,000 ft. or higher on Mt. Everest. Pugh also studied distance swimmers and runners and took part in the evaluation and training of athletes for the 1968 Olympic Games. The collection contains Pugh's expedition and laboratory research files with notes, calculations and graphs documenting his experiments with mountain climbers, swimmers, runners and his work on respiration for polio patients; correspondence, much of it related to his research; reprints and drafts of journal articles, reports and unpublished writings; information on laboratory equipment and techniques, and photographic material documenting expeditions and experiments. The papers are arranged in twelve series: 1) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIAL; 2) GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE; 3) WRITINGS BY PUGH; 4) EXPEDITIONS; 5) PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES, 1940-1949; 6) PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES, 1950-1959; 7) PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES, 1960-1969; 8) PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES, 1970-1979; 9) LABORATORY APPARATUS, CALIBRATIONS AND TECHNIQUES; 10) CONFERENCES, LECTURES AND SYMPOSIA, 11) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, and 12) ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES. Scope and Content of Collection The papers of L.G.C.E. Pugh document his scientific career and his participation in the 1952 British Himalayan Expedition to Mt. Cho Oyu, the 1953 British Himalayan Expedition to Mt. Everest, the 1957-1958 Trans-Antarctic Expedition, and the 1960-1961 British Himalayan Scientific and Mountaineering Expedition. The collection contains administrative and organizational reports, correspondence, draft writings and reprints, research and expedition notes, calculations and data, photographic material, manufacturers' brochures and catalogs of equipment used in the laboratory and the field. The bulk of the collection documents Pugh's research. The papers span the period 1940-1986, occupy 43 linear feet and are arranged in twelve series: 1) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIAL; 2) CORRESPONDENCE; 3) WRITINGS BY PUGH; 4) EXPEDITIONS; 5) PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES, 1940-1949; 6) PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES, 1950-1959; 7) PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES, 1960-1969; 8) PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES, 1970-1979; 9) LABORATORY APPARATUS, CALIBRATIONS, TECHNIQUES; 10) CONFERENCES, LECTURES AND SYMPOSIA; 11) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, and 12) ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES. SERIES 1: MISCELLANEOUS MATERIAL The MISCELLANEOUS MATERIAL is arranged in two subseries: A) General and B) Appointment Calendars. A) General. This subseries is arranged alphabetically by topic and contains Pugh's summaries of his career, annual reports (1956-1974) of the Laboratory for Field Physiology, and meeting minutes (1956-1958) of the Medical Research Council's scientific staff. It also includes a file of newspaper reports that refer to Pugh's work on cases of hypothermia and photographs of Pugh in formal and informal settings. B) Appointment Calendars. Pugh's desk calendars, which he called "planners," track his appointments for an eighteen year period between 1950 and 1973. They were used mainly for scheduling his speaking, travel and social engagements, but the second part of the 1958 diary has long entries made during his participation in the Trans-Antarctic expedition that year. SERIES 2: CORRESPONDENCE The CORRESPONDENCE series, arranged alphabetically by correspondent, contains letters from members of the high altitude physiology community including David B. Dill, Ulrich Luft, Nello Pace, Michael P. Ward, and John B. West. Also included are letters from professional organizations, sports clubs, journals, and expedition planners. Pugh also kept correspondence in his expedition and research files. SERIES 3: WRITINGS BY PUGH L. G. C. E. Pugh Papers MSS 0491 2 The WRITINGS series begins with chronological lists of Pugh's publications and contains almost all of his published and unpublished works. Most of the published works are journal articles that summarize the results of his experimental physiology studies and are often in multiple drafts accompanied by research notes, data, reference material, and copies of previous work. Also included are articles describing his experiences and research on expeditions. There are chapters Pugh contributed to physiology textbooks and reports he wrote as a medical officer during World War II filed under "Mountain Warfare Training Centre." Pugh's work in physiological measurement often provided the first instance of baseline data, e.g., "Thermal Conductivity of Human Fat and Muscle." His "Report on Scientific Work in Connection with the Mount Everest Expedition in 1953," incorporating his findings from the Mt. Cho Oyu expedition research, was the foundation for the success of the British expedition in 1953. SERIES 4: EXPEDITIONS The EXPEDITIONS series documents Pugh's participation in three major mountaineering expeditions, an Antarctic expedition and several miscellaneous expeditions and is arranged in five subseries: A) British Himalayan Expedition to Mt. Cho Oyu, 1952; B) British Himalayan Expedition to Mt. Everest, 1953; C) Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1957-1958; D) Silver Hut, 1960-1961; and E) Miscellaneous Expeditions Material, 1947-1959. Each subseries is arranged alphabetically by topic. A) British Himalayan Expedition to Mt. Cho Oyu, 1952. Expedition leader Eric Shipton asked Pugh to to serve as physician and physiologist for this reconnaissance expedition for the planned 1953 Everest attempt. Pugh was to test oxygen units and other equipment and determine the most efficient oxygen flow rate to improve climbers' performance. Pugh subjected expedition members and their equipment to intensive evaluation. Data analysis indicated that adequate hydration and nutrition were important factors and that the oxygen equipment and protective clothing used by earlier expeditions had not been optimally designed. This subseries contains Pugh's letters to Shipton, his expedition diary and notebooks with field data and information he gathered on equipment and rations used by previous expeditions. It also includes photographs of mountain terrain and villages, climbing equipment, expedition members and local people. B) British Himalayan Expedition to Mt. Everest, 1953. Pugh was the "lead scientist" on the first expedition to reach the summit, again in a dual role as researcher and physician. This subseries contains correspondence among expedition members Charles Evans, Edmund Hillary, John Hunt and others, an expedition diary Pugh kept during the climb, research notes and data, questionnaires on food and equipment completed by expedition members, lists and descriptions of equipment. It includes photographs of expedition members, campsites, local people, equipment, and terrain. C) Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1957-1958. Pugh accompanied this expedition to study the effects of low temperatures, the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning and to evaluate equipment. Polar expeditions arrived in the summer, spent the winter doing research and were picked up the following summer. While in Antarctica Pugh and Edmund Hillary thought about the possibility of adapting this type of schedule for a Himalayan expedition. This subseries contains correspondence, research data, notes and information about equipment, and photographs. See also SERIES 1B: Appointment Calendar 1958 and SERIES 7P. D) Silver Hut Expedition, 1960-1961. Pugh and Hillary used the polar expedition model for this expedition, formally called the Himalayan Scientific and Mountaineering Expedion, and set up a research laboratory, the "Silver Hut," at 19,000 feet. The subseries contains the plan for the expedition, the legal agreement with its sponsor, correspondence among expedition members Edmund Hillary, J.S. Milledge, John West and others, and blueprints for the Silver Hut laboratory. Also included are descriptions of the scientific program, EKGs for expedition members, questionnaires they completed after the expedition, photographs, minutes of a meeting held by the scientific team, equipment lists and descriptions