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LJH
Lawrence Joseph Henderson
Portrait: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
1878–1942

Lawrence Joseph Henderson

Henderson argued in The Fitness of the Environment (1913) that the physical and chemical properties of water, carbon dioxide and the common elements suit them to life. The book rests on a body of evidence, not on a single argument1. Later authors used its figures, cited it, or read it as a return to purpose in nature678.

Born
3 June 1878
Died
10 February 1942
Country
United States
Field
chemist, sociologist, biochemist
In the library
1 work, named in 6 passages elsewhere
Facts from
Wikidata · Wikipedia · Open Library
18501875190019251950197520002025Henderson, L. J., 19131Henderson, L. J., 19132Henderson, L. J., 19133Henderson, L. J., 19134Bayliss, W. M., 19155Rádl, E., 19306Lotka, A. J., 19257Loeb, J., 19168
01

The argument from fitness

Henderson wrote that the chapters of evidence, not the logical framing, were the true ground of the conclusion1. Henderson also noted that the idea of final causes had often led investigators to the right description of an organ, through its utility to the whole organism2. For water, Henderson counted three effects: it moderates the temperature of the earth, it allows regulation of the temperature of the organism, and it favours the meteorological cycle. Henderson called these true maxima, since no other substance compares with water3.

02

Acid, buffers and metabolism

Henderson treated the constant resistance of the organism to acid as a basic regulatory feature. Metabolism tends toward acid, because foodstuffs are mostly neutral while their end products are mostly acids such as carbonic, phosphoric and sulphuric4. Bayliss reported a finding by Henderson (1908) on the alkali needed to shift hydrogen ion concentration in various weak acids. Phosphate and carbonic acid required the largest quantities, with a large step down to the next in the series5.

03

Use and dispute by later authors

Lotka drew on Henderson's estimates of energy in the inorganic cycle. These included the Gulf Stream's transport of two hundred million tons of water per second7. Rádl read the book as a return to the pre-Darwinian idea of purpose in the universe, with an environment best fitted to life6. Loeb cited the book in a note while discussing whether the environment causes adaptive change in organisms, a view Loeb treated with caution8.

SourcesEach quotation was checked word for word against the passage it opens.
  1. it is upon the general character of the evidence rather than upon an argument which only serves as a means to the end that I should wish to rest my case.Henderson, L. J., 1913 · The Fitness of the Environment · open at passage 4
  2. The dogma of final .causes had led a thou- sand times to the truth by teaching the investigator that the true description of an organ or physiological process was to be found in its utility to the organism as a whole.Henderson, L. J., 1913 · The Fitness of the Environment · open at passage 12
  3. it operates powerfully to, equalize and to moderate the temperature of the earth; secondly, it makes possible very effective regulation of the tem- perature of the living organismHenderson, L. J., 1913 · The Fitness of the Environment · open at passage 154
  4. This tendency toward acidity of reaction and the accumulation of acid in the body is one of the inevitable characteristics of metabo- UsmHenderson, L. J., 1913 · The Fitness of the Environment · open at passage 232
  5. A remarkable fact was noticed by Henderson (1908, p. 176) in comparing the relative amounts of alkali necessary to produce a given change in the H' ion concentrationBayliss, W. M., 1915 · Principles of General Physiology · open at passage 898
  6. In a very able treatise Lawrence Henderson goes back definitely to the pre-Darwinian conception of the purpose- ful in the universe.Rádl, E., 1930 · The History of Biological Theories · open at passage 948
  7. an estimate given by L. J. Henderson according to which the gulf stream alone conveys" two-hundred million tons of water per second through the straits of Yukatan.Lotka, A. J., 1925 · Elements of Physical Biology · open at passage 748
  8. 2 Henderson, L., The Fitness of tJie Environment. See also Michaelis, L., Die Wasserstoffionenconzentration. Berlin, 1914.Loeb, J., 1916 · The Organism as a Whole, from a Physicochemical Viewpoint · open at passage 483
In the library1 work
The Fitness of the EnvironmentHenderson, L. J.
1913
The Fitness of the Environment
Henderson, L. J.
1913 · read
Quoted inArticles that quote this person's work