Mayo researcher, inventor of G-Suit dies
The inventor of the G-Suit has died. Dr. Earl Wood developed the outfit worn by fighter pilots to help counteract the effects of gravity at the Mayo clinic in the 1940s. His work there was top secret, so Wood and his partners had to test the suits on themselves.
Earl Wood died last week at age 97. In over 40 years at Mayo, he played an important role in developing many other pieces of medical technology. He graduated from Macalester College and went on to get both a Ph.D. and an M.D. from the University of Minnesota.
Wood mentored many other researchers at Mayo, including Dr. Barry Gilbert, who told All Things Considered that Earl Wood's expertise in both engineering and medicine made him a natural fit to solve the complicated problem the U.S. military faced at the beginning of World War II.
Click the links below to watch a video of the history of the G-Suit.
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