Griffith Pugh, Pioneer Everest Physiologist

Abstract

Lewis Griffith Cresswell Evans Pugh (1909-1994), best known as the physiologist on the successful 1953 British Everest Expedition, inspired a generation of scientists in the field of altitude medicine and physiology in the decades after World War II. This paper details his early life, his introduction to exercise physiology during the war, and his crucially important work in preparation for the Everest expedition on Cho Oyu in 1952. Pugh's other great contribution to altitude physiology was as scientific leader of the 1960-1961 Himalayan Scientific and Mountaineering Expedition (the Silver Hut), and the origins and results of this important expedition are discussed. He had a major and continuing interest in the physiology of cold, especially in real-life situations in Antarctica, exposure to cold wet conditions on hills in Britain, and in long distance swimming. He also extended his interest to Olympic athletes at moderate altitude (Mexico City) and to heat stress in athletes. Pugh's strength as a physiologist was his readiness to move from laboratory to fieldwork with ease and his rigor in applying the highest standards in both situations. He led by example in both his willingness to act as a subject for experiments and in his attention to detail. He was not an establishment figure; he was critical of authority and well known for his eccentricity, but he inspired great loyalty in those who worked with him.

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