Physiology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics Note
Between the 1910s and 1930s, Warren Harmon Lewis (together with his wife and colleague Margaret Lewis) developed methods of tissue culture and means of observation which revolutionized the field of cytology. While still at the Anatomical Laboratory at Johns Hopkins (1903-1919), the Lewises prepared a simple fluid which enabled them to grow cells in culture dishes and thus observe previously hidden details of cell structure and physiological activities. They continued their cytological studies at the Embryology Department of the Carnegie Institution (located in Baltimore) until their move to the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia after 1940. Warren Lewis' research program focused mainly on morphological aspects of cell structure, cell division, cell locomotion, and phagocytosis, in normal as well as in cancer cells. In 1929 he was first to develop time-lapse microscopic motion pictures to record observations on living cells in culture. His films became important teaching resources in cytology, and led him to develop mechanical theories of cell motion. Lewis was president of the American Association of Anatomists (1934-1936) and of the International Society for Experimental Cytology (1939-1947). The Lewis Papers are primarily from the 1930s to the 1950s and consist of two divisions: correspondence and laboratory records. The correspondence documents his cytological studies and motion picture research on cells, as well as his activities in professional societies. The experimental materials include lectures, experiments, drawings, photographs, and film scripts, covering a wide range of topics in embryology, cytology, oncology, and immunology.
Author
Format
Date
Language
Alvarez, Walter C. (Walter Clement), 1884-1978 (Various research problems in cytology.)
Correspondence (3 items)
1937-1939
English
American Association of Anatomists. Symposium 1935, The Relation of the Anterior Pituitary to Reproduction (Includes communications with leading scientists surrounding the symposium. Correspondents include George W. Corner, Frederick L. Hisaw, A. E. Severinghaus, and Earl T. Engle.)
Correspondence (54 items)
1934-1935
English
American Institute of Biological Sciences
Correspondence (7 items)
1950-1953
English
Bronk, Detlev W. (Detlev Wulf), 1897-1975 (On reviewing a paper in biophysics.)
Correspondence (5 items)
1943-1962
English
Bush, Vannevar, 1890-1974 (Material on the Carnegie Institution and the Berkeley cyclotron.)
Correspondence (10 items)
1939-1954
English
Caspersson, Torbjorn Oskar, 1910-1997 (Includes important correspondence describing a collaboration with Jack Schultz and future research plans; communications regarding a Rockefeller Fellowship for the study of DNA.)
Correspondence (6 items)
1939-1943
English
Davenport, Charles Benedict, 1866-1944
Correspondence (5 items)
1934-1941
English
Demerec, M. (Milislav), 1895-1966
Correspondence (3 items)
1945-1946
English
Hardy, William B. (On colloid science.)
Correspondence (2 items)
1930
English
Institut International d'Embryologie
Correspondence (33 items)
1931-1953
French
International Society for Experimental Cytology (Includes correspondence with John Runnstrom, Ross G. Harrison, Robert Chambers, and Detlev W. Bronk.)
Correspondence (3 folders)
1938-1947
English
Just, Ernest Everett, 1883-1941 (On embryological research.)
Correspondence (2 items)
1934
English
Lillie, Frank Rattray, 1870-1947
Correspondence (1 item)
1925
English
Metz, Charles William, 1889-1975 (On embryology.)
Correspondence (3 items)
1930-1941
English
Sabin, Florence Rena, 1871-1953
Correspondence (7 items)
1926-1929
English
Schrader, Franz (On cytogenetics and cellular fusion.)
Correspondence (2 items)
1945
English
Schram, Mildred W. S., 1888-1960 (International cancer research.)
Correspondence (11 items)
1932-1942
English
Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology (Numerous files on research and administrative issues at the Institute.)
Correspondence (3 folders)
1940-1960
English