The centenary (1960) of the birth of J. S. Haldane was the occasion for a symposium, held in 1961, in which most of the world's important pulmonary physiologists participated. Although Haldane contributed basic knowledge to many branches of respiratory physiology, this symposium primarily discusses respiratory control.
The proceedings are divided into five principal sections, each comprising four to six papers. Individual sections are devoted to specific features of respiratory control such as: peripheral receptors and effectors, central receptors, response to CO2, altitude adaptation, and hyperpnea of exercise. Ten to twenty pages of excellent discussion conclude each division. An additional section presents tributes to Haldane, not the usual eulogy often found in medical publications but serious scientific reviews in which the role of Haldane's contributions to the development of present knowledge is traced by an accomplished investigator with an intimate knowledge of the field. A final portion contains brief reports