Abstract

In 1911, August Krogh established the Zoophysiological Laboratory at Copenhagen University. Already in 1912, the first American visitor began a steady stream of American physiologists visiting the laboratory in the following decades. Many of the visitors were from Harvard University, leading Krogh to be known as the Professors’ Professor at Harvard Medical School.

This paper deals with the creation of an international social network between physiologists in Denmark and the USA and the benefits this network provided for its members. In a broader perspective, this network is interesting because August Krogh started establishing connections to Harvard University and broader in the USA before the American physiologists where at the top. This early contact with the hegemon-to-be may have given Danish physiologists an advantage over other countries in the long run, helping to explain how Denmark ‘punches above its weight’ when looking at international comparisons of citations and top publications.