John Zachary Young (1907-97) Unable to See It Under the Microscope, He Cut Sections of the Squid Stellate Ganglion To
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news and views Obituary on the stellate ganglion of the octopus. John Zachary Young (1907-97) Unable to see it under the microscope, he cut sections of the squid stellate ganglion to Zoologist who paved the confirm its absence, and observed a series ARGENT GODFREY of enormous, tubular structures that he way for modern studies in at first took to be blood vessels. neurobiology However, further observations and simple but crucial electrical John Young, who died on 4 July aged 90, stimulation experiments convinced was one of the most distinguished him that each ‘tube’ was, in fact, a single biologists of the century — he himself nerve fibre — a so-called ‘giant’ fibre. The made several seminal discoveries, and he largest such fibres were nearly 1 mm in had a great influence on the work of many diameter and over a hundred times fatter others either directly or through his than a mammalian nerve. writings. JZ immediately recognized the A zoologist by training and by significance of his discovery. He showed inclination, JZ (pronounced the English way, his preparation to physiologists on both ‘Jay Zed’) was passionately interested in how sides of the Atlantic, who succeeded in animals work, especially in the operation of placing electrodes inside the giant fibre. their brains. But his restless curiosity and They established that there was a small disdain for conventional academic writer par excellence. His Life potential difference between the outside boundaries led him to work in, and write of Vertebrates (1950), Life of Mammals and the inside, and that this reversed when about, areas that others might label (1957) and modestly titled Introduction to a signal passed along the axon. In 1963, physiology, neuroscience, experimental the Study of Man (1971) each became, and Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley were psychology or philosophy. He was eclectic remain, standard texts, widely translated. deservedly awarded a Nobel prize for their but did not hesitate to go deep (as he used to And it is not difficult to see why. They were elegant experiments on the squid giant put it) into whatever was his interest of the well illustrated, authoritative, fibre, but there are many who thought that moment. Many are the collaborators who comprehensive and, above all, beautifully the award might have been extended to can vouch for his amazing grasp of detail in written. The ability to express himself include JZ. what they had hitherto thought of as their simply was one of JZ’s greatest gifts, and it What kind of person was it who could own subject area. made him a brilliant lecturer as well as achieve all of this? Complex, certainly — a Born in Bristol, JZ was educated at writer. He brought to his lectures an curious mixture of self-confidence and Marlborough College and Oxford excitement and an infectious enthusiasm humility, impatience and perseverance. University, where he became a fellow of that came from the heart. There was With his indomitable drive to achieve, he Magdalen College before being appointed absolutely no pretence in him: he found could be irascible and inconsiderate, and to the chair of anatomy at University animals and brains so fascinating (one of he was often genuinely puzzled by the College London in 1945. his favourite epithets) that he could not behaviour of those living life at a slower The breadth of his achievements can be but convey that fascination to his listeners. pace. Once, at the Naples Zoological shown by considering his work — first as a He was also a teacher in the broader Station, he rebuffed a visitor for trying to cephalopod biologist, then as a teacher sense, eager to convey to a wide audience speak to him as he was walking down a and, finally, as a neuroscientist. For some the very essence of science (witness the title corridor, and later complained, “Can’t zoologists, JZ was an outstanding of his 1950 Reith Lectures: Doubt and people see you’re going somewhere?”. Yet, authority on cephalopods (the octopuses, Certainty in Science), and bold enough to having gained his attention, you would squids, cuttlefishes and nautiloids). His speculate about the possible wider encounter immense courtesy and charm. first scientific paper, published in 1929, implications of an experimental result. He was perhaps at his best in the pub was about an organ that he had discovered This boldness runs through his later after a hard day’s work, talking on the stellate ganglion of the octopus. For exploratory works, which differ from the enthusiastically about his results and yours, nearly 70 years he continued to write writings of many superannuated scientists sharing his passion for the science that was papers and books about these animals, and in that they make no concessions to his life. These attitudes stemmed from his many of them have long been classics. mysticism and are remarkable for their socialist principles and deep humanism. The JZ also wrote many papers about his humility. He recognized the absurdly wide patrician style went hand in hand with the experiments on octopus learning, in which canvas on which he was working, but felt common touch: he loved the warm-hearted he tried to establish the basis of memory. that it was his duty to attempt it. JZ was people of Naples, and of the many honours With his collaborators, he showed that convinced that understanding the human that came his way he especially cherished the octopuses have distinct stores in the brain condition must involve studying the organ honorary citizenship that this city bestowed for visual and touch memories, and that of study itself — the brain. on him in 1991. each of these has a complex arrangement Finally, for neuroscientists of all kinds, All of us in his ‘scientific family’, as he of accessory lobes that help to establish JZ was the person who, in the 1930s, called us at his ninetieth birthday party in memories and gain access to them. But the discovered the giant nerve fibres of squids, April, mourn his death. But we remember octopus brain proved to be far more paving the way for the experiments that his life and cherish the privilege of having complicated than he originally envisaged, established how nerves transmit known him. and this aspect of his work languished in information. He made that discovery John Messenger recent years. because, purely through intellectual John Messenger is in the Department of Animal For a far wider group of students and curiosity, he looked for the squid and Plant Sciences, Sheffield University, Western zoologists, JZ was a teacher — a textbook equivalent of the organ that he had found Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK. 726 Nature © Macmillan Publishers Ltd 1997 NATURE | VOL 388 | 21 AUGUST 1997.