Premature Science and Immature Lungs

In Part I, I gave an account of the discovery of surface forces by Laplace and by Young (1805-1806) and of its first application of the lung by Von Neergaard in 1929. Part II told some highlights of the rediscovery of surface forces, the discovery of pulmonary surfactant and of its unique properties, and the finding that the lungs of babies who died of respiratory distress syndrome ("hyaline membrane disease") lacked this remarkable substance; part II dealt largely with the work of Radford, Pattle, Clements, Avery, and Mead. Part III tells of the multidisciplinary attack on immature lungs; it concludes this series, but not the story, because, as is almost always true in science, many questions still need answers.