science

John Newport Langley

John Newport Langley is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand John Newport Langley rather than just read about it. In short: John Newport Langley (2 November 1852 – 5 November 1925) was a British physiologist, who made substantive discoveries about the nervous system and secretion. Life He was born in Newbury, Berkshire the son of John Langley, the local schoolmaster, and his wife, Mary Groom.

Key takeaways

John Newport Langley belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect John Newport Langley to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of John Newport Langley from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

John Newport Langley (2 November 1852 – 5 November 1925) was a British physiologist, who made substantive discoveries about the nervous system and secretion.

Life He was born in Newbury, Berkshire the son of John Langley, the local schoolmaster, and his wife, Mary Groom. He was educated at Exeter Grammar School in Devon. In 1871 he won a place at St John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated MA before continuing multiple postgraduate studies, gaining several doctorates. He spent his entire career at Cambridge University, beginning as a Demonstrator in lectures in 1875. He began lecturing in Physiology in 1884 and was awarded a professorship in 1903, succeeding Professor Michael Foster. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1883 and later its vice-president. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1916. Langley is known as one of the fathers of the chemical receptor theory, and as the origin of the concept of "receptive substance". In 1901, he advanced research in neurotransmitters and chemical receptors, working with extracts from adrenal glands. These extracts elicited responses in tissues that were similar to those induced by nerve stimulation. He coined the term "autonomic nervous system" (ANS) in 1898. He was the first person who put forward the concept of parasympathetic nervous system as a division of the ANS in 1921. He died in Cambridge on 5 November 1925, aged 73.

Publications The Autonomic Nervous System (1921) Elementary Experimental Physiology

Recognition A brass plaque to Langley's memory exists in Trinity College Chapel at Cambridge University.

Family Langley married at St. Mary′s church, Montrose, on 10 September 1902 Vera Kathleen Forsythe-Grant (d.1932), third daughter of Frederick Grant Forsyth-Grant, of Ecclesgreig, Kincardineshire.

References

Bibliography

Katz, B. (1986). "Archibald Vivian Hill", Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oxford, p. 406

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John Newport Langley

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John Newport Langley claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to John Newport Langley before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about John Newport Langley ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of John Newport Langley

In research: John Newport Langley appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses John Newport Langley in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: John Newport Langley is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1852 births, 1925 deaths, Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John Newport Langley outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “John Newport Langley” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study John Newport Langley in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what John Newport Langley means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain John Newport Langley out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is John Newport Langley in simple terms?

John Newport Langley (2 November 1852 – 5 November 1925) was a British physiologist, who made substantive discoveries about the nervous system and secretion. Life He was born in Newbury, Berkshire the son of John Langley, the local schoolmaster, and his wife, Mary Groom.

Why does John Newport Langley matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study John Newport Langley?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on John Newport Langley.