Lawrence Joseph Henderson (June 3, 1878 – February 10, 1942) was an American physiologist, chemist, biologist, philosopher, and sociologist.

Then followed two years in chemical research at the University of Strasbourg with advanced scientific training in Franz Hofmeister's physiological laboratory.

In 1913, Henderson wrote The Fitness of the Environment, one of the first books to explore concepts of fine tuning in the Universe.

He concluded: "the whole evolutionary process, both cosmic and organic, is one, and the biologist may now rightly regard the universe in its very essence as biocentric".

In contrast to Pareto, Henderson applied the concept of social systems to all disciplines that study the meanings communicated in interactions between two or more persons acting in roles or role-sets.

Henderson influenced many Harvard sociologists, especially Talcott Parsons, George C. Homans, Robert K. Merton, and Elton Mayo who all became pioneers in sociology or psychology.

Henderson was instrumental in promoting Talcott Parsons's career at Harvard despite Pitirim Sorokin's opposition.