Hales, Stephen

SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering, Medical technology

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b. September 1677 Bekesbourne, Kent, England

d. 4 January 1761 Teddington, Middlesex, England

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English physiologist and inventor, author of the first account of the measurement of blood pressure.

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After attending Corpus Christi, Cambridge, he was admitted as a Fellow in 1702. During the ensuing years he was engaged in botanical, astronomical and chemical activities and research. He was appointed Minister at Teddington, Middlesex, in 1708 and remained in that post until his death. During these years, he continued to engage in a wide range of botanical and physiological activities involving studies of the nutrition of plants, blood pressure and the flow of blood in animals. He was also the inventor of improved ventilation by systems of partition and ducting, and the production of fresh water by distillation for ships at sea. The wide range of his interests did not preclude his care for his pastoral duties, and he was involved in the education of the Prince of Wales's children, although he declined a canonry of Windsor. In his writings he set a standard for the scientific method as related to principles based on facts and observation.

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Principal Honours and Distinctions

FRS 1718. Copley Medal 1739. Académie Française 1753. Founding Member, Society of Arts; Vice-President 1755.

Bibliography

1727, Vegetable Statisticks, London. 1733, Statistical Essays, London.

1734, A Friendly Admonition to the Drinkers of Brandy, London.

1736, Distilled Spirituous Liquors the Bane of the Nation, London. 1739, Philosophical Experiments, London.

1740, An Account of Some Experiments and Observations, London.

1743, 1758, A Description of Ventilators, London.

1756, An Account of a Useful Discovery to Distill, London.

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