Appendix 1 Chronology of Main Events

APPENDIX 1 CHRONOLOGY OF MAIN EVENTS 384-322 B.C.E. Aristotle allegedly stated that the air on high mountains was "too thin for respiration." Cited by Robert Boyle (1660, p. 357) (Fig. 1.1) but disputed. C. 30 B.CE. Reference to the Great Headache Mountain and Little Headache Mountain in the Ch'ien Han Shu (Fig. 1.3). 354-430 St. Augustine of Hippo refers to the thinness of the air on mountains (Fig. 1.2). 399-414 Fa-hien's companion died on a mountain and "a white froth came from his mouth" (Fig. 1.5). This may be the first recorded example of high-altitude pulmonary edema. 1590 Publication by Joseph de Acosta of Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias with its account of mountain sickness (first Spanish edition) (Fig. 1.6). 1598 Anello Oliva also referred to sickness on mountains caused by the thinness of the airs. Other Spanish chroniclers such as Alonso de Ovalle made similar statements. 1604 English translation of Acosta's book The Natural/ and Moral/ Historie of the East and West Indies. 1620 Francis Bacon referred to the belief by the ancients of the rarity of the air on the summit of Mt. Olympus, and the fact that the air was not dense enough for respiration. 1628 William Harvey described the circulation of the blood in De Motu Cordis. 1638 Galileo discusses the resistance of a vacuum. 401 402 HIGH LIFE 1644 Torricelli (Fig. 1.11) invents the mercury barometer and recognizes that the mercury is supported by the weight of the atmosphere (Fig. 1.12). 1648 Demonstration of the fall in barometric pressure at high altitude by Perier in an experiment devised by Blaise Pascal (Fig. 1.13). 1654 Otto von Guericke constructed an air pump and demonstrated the enormous forces caused by the pressure of the air (Fig. 1.14). 1660 Robert Boyle (Fig. 1.15) exposed animals to low pressure using the air pump devised with Robert Hooke (Fig. 1.16). 1661 Marcello Malpighi describes the alveoli and pulmonary capillaries (Fig. 1.20). 1662 Boyle published Boyle's Law (Fig. 1.17). 1667 Hooke demonstrated that a dog could be kept alive without movement of the lungs. 1669 Richard Lower (Fig. 1.18) showed that blood changes color as a result of its passage through the lungs. 1671 Hooke built the first human decompression chamber. 1674 John Mayow stated that nitro-aerial spirit which is present in air is necessary for both combustion and respiration (Fig. 1.19). 1697 Georg Ernst Stahl promulgated the phlogiston theory. 1727 Stephen Hales measures the size of the alveoli, calculates their com bined area, and distinguishes between free (gaseous) and fixed (chem ically combined) forms of the respiratory gases. 1754 Joseph Black describes carbon dioxide in his doctoral thesis (it had previously been produced by Jan Baptista van Helmont). 1775 Joseph Priestley (Fig. 2.1) reported the isolation of oxygen. 1777 Carl Wilhelm Scheele reported the isolation of oxygen. 1777 Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (Fig. 2.2) reported the roles of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen in respiration. 1783 First manned flight in a Montgolfier balloon by Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis d' Arlandes (Fig. 2.4). 1785 John Jeffries, M.D. (Fig. 2.5), and Jean Blanchard cross the English Channel in a balloon. 1786 Michel-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat make the first ascent of Mont Blanc. 1787 Horace Benedict de Saussure ascends Mont Blanc and vividly de scribes mountain sickness (Fig. 2.8). Appendix 1 403 1793 Thomas Beddoes suggested that mountain sickness is caused by the lack of oxygen. 1802 Alexander von Humboldt ascribes mountain sickness to the lack of oxygen on Chimborazo. 1854 Conrad Meyer-Ahrens publishes Die Bergkrankheit, the first book devoted to mountain sickness (Fig. 5.1). 1862 Balloon flight of James Glaisher and Henry Coxwell to an altitude of over 8 km (Fig. 2.6). 1872 Eduard Pfluger (Fig. 4.2) recognized that oxygen metabolism occurs solely in the tissues. 1875 Flight of the balloon Zenith during which Croce-Spinelli and Sivel succumbed to hypoxia and only Tissandier survived (Fig. 2.7). 1876 T. W. Hinchliff asserted that 21,500 ft (6550 m) is "near the limit at which man ceases to be capable of the slightest further exertion." 1878 Publication of La Pression Barometrique by Paul Bert (Figs. 2.10 and 2.13). 1880 Edward Whymper ascends Chimborazo and has severe mountain sick ness; two mercury barometers were carried to the summit (Fig. 2.9). 1890 Joseph Vallot (Fig. 3.1) erects his observatory on Mont Blanc at about 4350 m. 1890 Fran~ois-Gilbert Viault (Fig. 7.2) reported polycythemia at high altitude. 1891 Dr. Jacottet died in the Observatoire Vallot probably from high altitude pulmonary edema (Fig. 5.4). 1891 Christian Bohr reported that oxygen and carbon dioxide were secreted by the lung. 1893 The Capanna Regina Margherita is erected on Monte Rosa (Fig. 3.6). 1894 Angelo Mosso (Fig. 3.5) carried out experiments in the new Capanna Margherita. 1894 Pietro Ramella (Fig. 5.5) developed an illness in the Capanna Margh erita which may have been high-altitude pulmonary edema. 1894 Hugo Kronecker studies people carried to high altitude in the Swiss Alps prior to the building of the Jungfrau Railway. 1897 Publication of Mosso's book Fisiologia dell'uomo sulle Alpi. 1898 Publication of the English translation of the second edition of Mosso's book as Life of Man on the High Alps. 1898-1902 Capanna Margherita was enlarged (Fig. 3.7). 404 HIGH LIFE 1906 Publication of Hohenklima und Bergwanderungen by Zuntz et al. 1909 The Duke of the Abruzzi reaches 7500 m in the Karakoram. 1910 Nathan Zuntz (Fig. 3.11) led the international high-altitude expedi tion to Tenerife. 1910 August and Marie Krogh (Fig. 4.10) publish seven papers disproving oxygen secretion. 1911 Anglo-American Pikes Peak Expedition with Douglas, Haldane (Fig. 4.5), Henderson, and Schneider (Figs. 4.7 -4.9). 1913 Thomas Ravenhill (Fig. 5.2) published "Some Experience of Mountain Sickness in the Andes" (Fig. 5.3). 1913 Mabel FitzGerald (Figs. 4.15 and 4.16) published her results on al veolar gas composition in Colorado mining camps (Fig. 4.17). 1920 A. M. Kellas (Fig. 6.3) wrote "A Consideration of the Possibility of Ascending Mount Everest" (Fig. 6.4). 1920 Joseph Barcroft (Fig. 4.11) carried out the glass chamber experiment in Cambridge disproving oxygen secretion (Fig. 4.12). 1921 A French translation of Kellas' manuscript is published in an obscure conference proceedings. 1921-1922 International High-Altitude Expedition to Cerro de Pasco, Peru, led by Joseph Barcroft (Figs. 4.13 and 4.14). 1922 George Finch (Fig. 6.7) demonstrated the value of supplementary oxy gen on Mt. Everest up to 8320 m (Figs. 6.8 and 6.9). 1924 E. F. Norton (Fig. 6.10) climbed to within 300 m of the Everest sum mit without supplementary oxygen (Fig. 6.11). 1925 Joseph Barcroft published The Respiratory Function of the Blood, Pari I: Lessons from High Altitudes in which he stated that "all dwellen at high altitude are persons of impaired physical and mental powers." 1925 Carlos Monge M. (Fig. 7.3) reports the first case of what was late! known as Monge's disease. 1928 Carlos Monge M. published "La Enfermedad de Los Andes" witb descriptions of chronic mountain sickness (Fig. 7.4). 1929 Rodolfo Margaria (Fig. 9.4) measures maximal oxygen consumptior in acute hypoxia and concludes that ,Everest cannot be climbed with· out supplementary oxygen (Fig. 9.5). 1932 Adolf Loewy (Fig. 3.13) published Physiologie des Hohenklimas. 1933 Frank Smythe reported hallucinations above 8000 m on Mt. Everest 1935 International High-Altitude Expedition to Chile led by David Bruc( Dill (Fig. 7.8). Appendix 1 405 1936 Ancel Keys stated that the altitude of 5340 m was the limit for per manent habitation based on the experience of the Aucanquilcha miners. 1937 Alberto Hurtado (Fig. 7.6) described a case of pulmonary edema at high altitude but the patient probably had underlying cardiac disease. 1939 Yandell Henderson analyzes the maximal oxygen consumption of ac climatized subjects at high altitude and concludes that Everest cannot be climbed without supplementary oxygen. 1943 Report on pressure breathing at high altitude by Fenn, Rahn, Otis (Fig. 8.1), and others. This was the first result of the collaboration of this important group (Fig. 8.2). 1946 Operation Everest I carried out by Charles Houston (Fig. 5.13) and Richard Riley (Fig. 8.6). 1948 Carlos Monge M. publishes Acclimatization in the Andes (Fig. 7.1). 1949 Hermann Rahn and Arthur Otis published "Man's Respiratory Re sponse During and After Acclimatization to High Altitude" (Fig. 8.5). 1950 Publication of German Aviation Medicine: World War II (Fig. 8.10). 1950 Charles Houston and H. W. Tilman explored the southern approaches to Mt. Everest (Fig. 9.1). 1950-1977 Nella Pace (Fig. 10.12) becomes the first director of the White Moun tain Research Station with its Summit Laboratory (4342 m) and Bar croft Facility (3800 m) (Figs. 10.10 and 10.11). 1951 Eric Shipton and Michael Ward (Fig. 9.2) carried out a reconnaissance of the approach to Everest from the south. 1952 The Swiss pre-monsoon expedition ascended to within 250 m of the Everest summit but were defeated by inadequate oxygen equipment and severe dehydration. 1952 Griffith Pugh (Fig. 9.8) carries out field research on Cho Oyu clari fying the physiological factors for success on Everest. 1953 First ascent of Mt. Everest by Edmund Hillary (Fig.

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