The papers of L.G.C.E. Pugh, a British physiologist and mountaineer who combined field and laboratory research in pioneering work in modern high-altitude physiology and sports medicine. Pugh conducted studies on the impact of the environment on human physiology and performance during the 1952 British Himalayan Expedition to Mt. Cho Oyu, the 1953 British Himalayan Expedition to Mt. Everest, the 1960-1961 Himalayan Scientific and Mountaineering Expedition to Mt. Everest, and the 1957-1958 Trans-Antarctic Expedition. His research interests were altitude, temperature and exertion. The data he obtained on Mt. Cho Oyu demonstrated the importance of adequate hydration and oxygen, findings that were crucial to the first successful climb of Mt. Everest in 1953. Pugh was the lead scientist on that expedition, and, with Edmund Hillary, he co-led the 1960-1961 Himalayan Scientific and Mountaineering Expedition, ("Silver Hut'), which spent five months at 19,000 ft. or higher on Mt. Everest. Pugh also studied distance swimmers and runners and took part in the evaluation and training of athletes for the 1968 Olympic Games. The collection contains Pugh's expedition and laboratory research files with notes, calculations and graphs documenting his experiments with mountain climbers, swimmers, runners and his work on respiration for polio patients; correspondence, much of it related to his research; reprints and drafts of journal articles, reports and unpublished writings; information on laboratory equipment and techniques, and photographic material documenting expeditions and experiments. The papers are arranged in twelve series: 1) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIAL; 2) GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE; 3) WRITINGS BY PUGH; 4) EXPEDITIONS; 5) PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES, 1940-1949; 6) PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES, 1950-1959; 7) PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES, 1960-1969; 8) PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES, 1970-1979; 9) LABORATORY APPARATUS, CALIBRATIONS AND TECHNIQUES; 10) CONFERENCES, LECTURES AND SYMPOSIA, 11) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, and 12) ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES.
L. G. C. E. Pugh Papers, 1940 - 1986 (MSS 491)
Extent: 43.5 Linear feet 88 archives boxes, 1 record carton, 5 card files and 48 oversize folders
Lewis Griffith Cresswell Evans Pugh was born on October 19, 1909, in Shrewsbury, England. He studied medicine at Oxford University and obtained his medical degree in 1939. At the start of World War II he joined the British Army as a medical officer and in 1943 was sent to the Mountain Warfare Training Centre to select, train and evaluate the fitness of ski troops at a school for mountain warfare in Lebanon. There he began a career of research into the physiological effects of altitude, temperature and exertion.
At the end of the war Pugh was in Belgium carrying out research in rheumatology, which he concluded in England at the British Postgraduate Medical School, London.
He then began cardiovascular research but was interrupted in 1947 by an invitation from the British Navy to accompany a voyage to the Arctic. This expedition brought him back to field physiology and the study of responses to cold. In 1950 Pugh joined the Medical Research Council's new Division in Human Physiology, set up to study the effects of extreme environments. He continued his research on cold and carried out groundbreaking work in determining the thermal conductivity of human tissue and the role of subcutaneous fat in tolerance to cold water immersion.
Pugh went on four more expeditions during his career, three to the Himalayas (Mt. Cho Oyu, 1952, Mt. Everest, 1953, and the Scientific and Mountaineering Expedition 1960-1961), and the 1957 Trans-Antarctic Expedition. The data he collected from the Cho Oyu climbers indicated that adequate hydration and nutrition were important factors, and that the oxygen equipment and clothing used by earlier expeditions had not been optimally designed. His work on hydration, nutrition, oxygen flow rates and protective clothing solved many of the problems of high altitude activity and contributed to the success of the 1953 British expedition to Mt. Everest. Pugh had helped plan and outfit the expedition, participated as the lead scientist and physician and became part of the group of scientists- Bruno Balke, R.B. and T.B. Bourdillon, David Bruce Dill, Charles Houston, Ulrich Luft, Nello Pace, Michael Ward, John West- that established modern high altitude physiology.
In 1957 Pugh took part, with Nello Pace, in the first Trans-Antarctic Expedition, visiting Scott Base and the South Pole. He studied cold stress and the effects of solar radiation on humans and the adaptive mechanisms of seals. In 1960, he headed the scientific team on the Himalayan Scientific and Mountaineering Expedition, led by Edmund Hillary. This expedition became known as the Silver Hut Expedition, named for the laboratory set up on the Ming Bo glacier at 19,000 ft. Researchers spent five months investigating the physiology of exertion and levels of respiratory oxygen.
When not on expeditions, Pugh conducted laboratory research at the Medical Research Council's Human Physiology Division. In 1954 the Council appointed Pugh to study respiratory failure and the use of respirators in cases of poliomyelitis. He set up the Laboratory for Field Physiology at the National Hospital in London, where he also carried out research in carbon monoxide poisoning.
In 1964 the deaths of four hikers from exposure led to Pugh's continuing his research into the effects of cold. In a series of field and laboratory experiments, he demonstrated that the combined cooling effects of wind and wet clothing could quickly lead to hypothermia even when the temperature was above freezing. The next year, the British Olympic Committee asked Pugh to head a research group to study the effects of altitude on athletes in preparation for the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, located above 7,000 ft. Pugh also found that distance runners were subject to heat stress. For the rest of the decade, and into the 1970s, Pugh designed and conducted experiments with athletes as subjects, and closed his career with studies using infra-red thermography to learn how athletes regulate body temperature.
Pugh died on December 22, 1994.
Sources: THE TIMES (London), January 7, 1995; HYPOXIA SYMPOSIUM, J.R. Sutton, et al., eds., 1993; West, J., HIGH LIFE: A HISTORY OF HIGH-ALTITUDE PHYSIOLOGY AND MEDICINE, 1998.
The papers of L.G.C.E. Pugh document his scientific research career, and his participation in the 1952 British Himalayan Expedition to Mt. Cho Oyu, the 1953 British Himalayan Expedition to Mt. Everest, the 1957-1958 Trans-Antarctic Expedition, and the 1960-1961 British Himalayan Scientific and Mountaineering Expedition. The collection contains administrative and organizational reports, correspondence, draft writings and reprints, research and expedition notes, calculations and data, photographic material, manufacturers' brochures and catalogs of equipment used in the laboratory and the field. The collection is arranged in twelve series: 1) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIAL; 2) CORRESPONDENCE; 3) WRITINGS BY PUGH; 4) EXPEDITIONS; 5) PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES, 1940-1949; 6) PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES, 1950-1959; 7) PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES, 1960-1969; 8) PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES, 1970-1979; 9) LABORATORY APPARATUS, CALIBRATIONS, TECHNIQUES; 10) CONFERENCES, LECTURES AND SYMPOSIA; 11) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, and 12) ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES. A note on the arrangement of the PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES SERIES 5-8:
Throughout his career, Pugh emphasized the importance of field work. He would identify and define problems in the laboratory, work toward solutions in the field and return to the laboratory to analyze field data and design follow-up experiments. His approach, influenced by his war experiences and the focus of the Medical Research Council's environmental program, was to examine the effects of extremes: high altitude, low temperature, and elite athletes. He also developed practical applications of his findings, preparing guidelines and designing equipment for survival in harsh conditions.
Pugh's physiology research files reflect his approach and methods and are arranged in four series of PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES, arranged by decade. Individual projects and experiments are arranged alphabetically in subseries within the series in which they begin. For the most part, the subseries folders retain Pugh's original file headings.
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