Archibald V. Hill and Otto Meyerhof’s Nobel-winning work on muscle metabolism

Archibald V. Hill and Otto Meyerhof studied how muscles use chemical energy to contract and recover. Hill measured the heat produced by working muscles, while Meyerhof traced the relationship between oxygen consumption and lactic acid metabolism. Their work earned them the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

The prize was divided equally. Hill was recognised “for his discovery relating to the production of heat in the muscle”, while Meyerhof was recognised “for his discovery of the fixed relationship between the consumption of oxygen and the metabolism of lactic acid in the muscle”. The prize was awarded for 1922 but presented in 1923 because the Nobel Committee had initially decided that no 1922 nomination met the required criteria.