Ernest Overton's Contribution to the Cell Membrane Concept: A Centennial Appreciation

In a series of three lectures in 1895-1899, Charles Ernest Overton (1865-1933) pioneered three fundamental concepts of the structure and function of cell membranes: 1) the lipid theory of cell permeability, 2) the lipid theory of narcosis, and 3) the involvement of an Na + /K + exchange in muscle and nerve excitability.