Professor Extreme Show and Tell: Sir Giles Brindley, MD, FRCP, FRS

The late David Marr, one of the most influential figures in the development of computer vision during the 1970s, is remembered for his groundbreaking computational theories of vision. Marr’s doctoral supervisor at Cambridge was none other than Sir Giles Skey Brindley (b. April 30, 1926), physician, physiologist, and Fellow of the Royal Society.

Some members of The Ratio Club with guests outside Peterhouse, University of Cambridge, May 1952. The photograph was organized by Donald Mackay. Back row (partly obscured): H. Shipton, J. Bates, W. Hicks, J. Pringle, D. Scholl, J. Westcott, D. Mackay. Middle row: G. Brindley, T. McLardy. W.R. Ashby, T. Gold, A. Uttley. Front row: A. Turing, G. Sutton, W. Rushton, G. Dawson, H. Barlow. Courtesy Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine.

A Pioneer of Vision and Beyond

Sir Giles Skey Brindley (an academic great-great-grandfather) had a reputation for both original research and colorful character. He was a pioneer in visual prosthesis and erectile dysfunction.

In the 1960s, he developed the first visual prosthesis and implanted the devices in four blind patients. Despite the boldness of the experiments, he eventually abandoned the line of work, recognizing that the technology of the time was too limited for real progress.

(a) Brindley stimulating the visual cortex of his first implant recipient, placing a stimulating coil over a matched receiving coil implanted under her scalp. (b) Plain X-Ray showing the placement of electrode arrays on the implant recipient’s visual cortex and receiving coils under the scalp. (c) Visual field map of phosphenes generated by the implant. Numbers refer to the electrode being stimulated. Note that some phosphenes are elongated, and some multiple (with curly braces) phosphenes appear when a single electrode is stimulated. Figure 6a is reproduced from the personal collection of Prof G.S. Brindley, with permission. Figures 6b,c reproduced from Brindley, G.S. & Lewin, W.S. The sensations produced by electrical stimulation of the visual cortex. J Physiol 196, 479-93 (1968), Wiley-Blackwell.

An Unforgettable Scientific Demonstration

Although a pioneer in visual prosthetics, Brindley became most widely known for an extraordinary moment at the 1983 meeting of the American Urological Association in Las Vegas. In an effort to demonstrate that erections could be induced chemically, he injected himself with papaverine, then proceeded to drop his trousers before the assembled audience, inviting them to inspect the results up close. The demonstration stunned the medical community and is still talked about decades later.

Legacy

Sir Giles Brindley remains a legend of British science:

• Innovator in vision research and prosthetics.

• Groundbreaker in the physiology and treatment of erectile dysfunction.

• Showman who embodied scientific conviction — sometimes to extreme lengths.

A man ahead of his time, Brindley blurred the line between experiment and theatrical demonstration, ensuring his place in both scientific history and anecdote.

Bibliography:

1. Charles Bankhead, Exposing the Truth About ED: An Hour 'Changed the World', MedPage Today, 2013 Jul. 26

2. Cyriaque Lamar An eyewitness account of the most awkward urology lecture, Gizmodo, 2012 Jan. 16

3. Klotz L. How (not) to communicate new scientific information: a memoir of the famous Brindley lecture. BJU Int. 2005 Nov;96(7):956-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2005.05797.x. PMID: 16225508.

4. Lewis, Philip & Rosenfeld, Jeffrey. (2015). Electrical Stimulation of the Brain and the development of Cortical Visual Prostheses: An Historical Perspective. Brain research. 1630. 10.1016/j.brainres.2015.08.038.

5. Biography: Giles Brindley, Fellow of the Royal Society

6. Kan, J., Aziz, T. Z., Green, A. L., & Pereira, E. A. C. (2014). Biographical sketch: Giles Brindley, FRS. British Journal of Neurosurgery, 28(6), 704–706. https://doi.org/10.3109/02688697.2014.925085