Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2013 Aug;42(4):935-43.
doi: 10.1093/ije/dyt067.

Commentary: Dr John Brownlee MA, MD, DSc, DPH (Cantab), FRFPS, FSS, FRMetS (1868-1927), public health officer, geneticist, epidemiologist and medical statistician

Vern T Farewell  1 , Tony L Johnson
Affiliations
Comment

Commentary: Dr John Brownlee MA, MD, DSc, DPH (Cantab), FRFPS, FSS, FRMetS (1868-1927), public health officer, geneticist, epidemiologist and medical statistician

Vern T Farewell et al. Int J Epidemiol. 2013 Aug.

Abstract

In July 1914 Dr John Brownlee was appointed head of the Statistical Department of the newly established Medical Research Committee. He had qualified in mathematics, natural philosophy and medicine at the University of Glasgow, and by 1914 had established a reputation as a public health officer, an expert in infectious diseases, and as a proponent of the Pearsonian school of the application of statistics and mathematics to medicine: an ideal background for his new position. In celebration of the centenary anniversary of the Medical Research Council and as a tribute to John Brownlee's involvement at the start, the International Journal of Epidemiology is reprinting in this issue one of his early papers on genetics. We comment on this paper, as well as Brownlee's background, achievements, research and his somewhat enigmatic though likeable character.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The only known photograph of Dr John Brownlee, reproduced from his obituary with kind permission from the Lancet
Figure 2
Figure 2
An impression of Brownlee: pencil drawing sketched on the menu for his farewell dinner at Ruchill Hospital, Glasgow, 1914. On 31 July 1914 he was appointed Head of the Medical Research Committee’s Statistical Department. (From the papers of Dr Peter McKenzie held by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Archives, ref. HB92/3/1)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Caricature of John Brownlee explaining the play, Hamlet, to Dr Chalmers. One of a series by Dr Osborne Henry Mavor (alias the playwright James Bridie). © University of Dundee Archive Services. Original digital image available
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

References

    1. Brownlee J. The inheritance of complex growth forms, such as stature, on Mendel’s theory. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 1910–11;31:251–56. Reprinted Int J Epidemiol. 2013;42:932–34.
    1. Obituary of John Brownlee. Lancet. 1927;i:680. and Br M J 1927;i:598.
    1. Fergus AF. The late Dr John Brownlee. Br M J. 1927;i:647. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Higgs M. Fear of fever. Who Do You Think You Are? 2012 Nov:64–68.
    1. Brownlee J. Age incidence in zymotic diseases. Proceedings of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow. 1904;35:302–10.

Publication types