When approaching science pioneers, there is the natural tendency to focus solely on the investigator’s scientific accomplishments. But, in the case of Archibald Vivian Hill (AVH, from now on; 1886-1977), it has been said that “it was his devotion to such wider issues, outside the boundaries of his own research, through which he exerted his most important influence on other people’s lives and on the course of events” (Katz, 1978).
Indeed, there seems to be more than meets the eye in this Nobel laureate than the Nobel itself, there is more than meets the eye in this physiologist than physiology itself. As the life of an extraordinary individual deserves to be chronicled, the life and career of AVH have been magnificently summarized in a long list of depictions. Among these, a comprehensive and accurate source of information is traced in the brilliant portrayal made by another Nobel laureate, Sir Bernard Katz (1911-2003) (Katz, 1978).