Historical Figure
Ivan Pavlov
1849–1936
Russian physiologist (1849–1936)
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Biography
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was a Russian and Soviet experimental neurologist and physiologist known for his discovery of classical conditioning through his experiments with dogs. Pavlov also conducted significant research on the physiology of digestion, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1904.
Timeline
The story of Ivan Pavlov, told in moments.
Spends a decade studying how dogs digest food. He cuts small holes in their stomachs to collect gastric juice. The work is meticulous and brutal. Then he notices something odd. The dogs start salivating when they hear his assistant's footsteps before the food arrives.
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on digestion. Not for conditioning. He discovers conditioning by accident while collecting digestive data. The Bell. The food. The drool. He calls it 'psychic secretion' at first.
Refuses to leave Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution, even as colleagues flee. Lenin grants him special privileges and extra food rations. Pavlov hates the regime publicly. He writes letters calling the revolution a disaster. They let him keep working.
Dies of pneumonia in Leningrad at 86. His final words to his students: 'Don't let me sleep. Keep asking me things.' The Soviet state gives him a grand funeral. He'd spent his last years calling them destroyers of Russian culture.
Artifacts (15)
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