Leonard Erskine Hill

Sir Leonard Erskine Hill FRS (2 June 1866, in Bruce Castle, Tottenham – 30 March 1952, in Corton, Suffolk) was a British physiologist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1900 Hill was the second recipient of the T. K. Sidey Medal, set up by the Royal Society of New Zealand as an award for outstanding scientific research.

Hill was an advocate of light therapy and in 1924 authored Sunshine and Open Air: Their Influence on Health.

Diving medicine Hill performed research into decompression sickness, oxygen toxicity, and effects of carbon dioxide in diving.

Hill advocated linear or uniform decompression profiles. He also wrote children's stories, including The Monkey Moo Book which was published in 1931. He was fond of the outdoor life, and went every day to bathe in a pond in Epping Forest at Loughton where he lived for many years. He retired to Corton in his later years.

Selected publications

A Textbook of Physiology (with Martin William Flack, 1919) The Science of Ventilation and Open Air Treatment (1919) Sunshine and Open Air: Their Influence on Health (1924) Health and Environment (with Argyll Campbell, 1925) Philosophy of a Biologist (1930) Manual of Human Physiology (1935)