Sharpey‐Schafer, Langley and Sherrington: ‘swordsmen’ of physiology. A historical look to the future

Physiolometrics and the puzzle of methodical acumen

“…‘It is of the highest importance in the art of detection to be able to recognize, out of a number of facts, which are incidental and which vital!’ These words, spoken by Sherlock Holmes in The Adventure of the Reigate Squire (later also known as The Adventure of the Reigate Puzzle ) published in the June issue of The Strand Magazine in 1893, resonate with our quest as physiologists for methodological rigor to this day. It is tempting to speculate that John Newport Langley (1852−1925), who during that period assumed control of The Journal of Physiology and became its most notorious Editor‐in‐Chief to date (Bailey et al., 2023 ), much like his contemporaries in The Physiological Society, found inspiration in the unwavering pursuit of deductive excellence exemplified by Sherlock Holmes.…”

“…At the turn of the century, Langley's insistence on a meticulously structured approach to the analysis and presentation of data fundamentally altered physiology as an experimental science, and continues to do so to this day (Bailey et al., 2023 ). During those years, many prevailing theories such as the unitary view of brain function (i.e., absence of localised function), the theory of urine secretion in the kidney, and the concept of oxygen secretion in the lungs, to mention a few, were revisited.…”

Hello, Goodbye*

“…Breadth and inclusion also arise from productive interactions with peer journals. This builds on a new quality of relations with our sister journals, Experimental Physiology and Physiological Reports , which is dominated by mutual support and sharing, rather than competition (which would have been quite prominent, historically (Bailey et al., 2023)). The present, highly collegial stance found reflection in a number of joint activities at Physiology 23 , and it is backed up by a purposeful and coordinated approach to ‘cascading manuscripts in‐house’, which is being embraced now by all three journals.…”