Ernest Baldwin
Ernest Hubert Francis Baldwin (29 March 1909 – 7 December 1969) was an English biochemist, textbook author and pioneer in the field of comparative biochemistry.
Ernest Baldwin | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ernest Hubert Francis Baldwin 29 March 1909 |
| Died | 7 December 1969 (aged 60) |
| Alma mater | St. John's College, Cambridge |
| Known for | Biochemistry |
| Spouse | Pauline Mary Edwards |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | 1851 Exhibition scholarship European Cortina-Ulisse Prize |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemistry Biohemistry |
| Institutions | St. John's College, Cambridge Marine Biological Laboratory University College London Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of Kansas |
Born in Gloucester, Baldwin attended the Crypt Grammar School followed by St. John's College, Cambridge. He completed the natural sciences tripos, specialising in biochemistry for Part II. He won a 1851 Exhibition scholarship for 1933–1935, remaining at Cambridge to study biochemistry. His main influence there was the eminent biochemist Frederick Gowland Hopkins; he also worked with Joseph Needham and Dorothy Needham.[1]
Career
While at St. John's College and inspired by the broad biochemical interests of Hopkins and the Needhams, in 1937 Baldwin published An Introduction to Comparative Biochemistry, an influential introductory textbook that went through four editions, the last in 1964. During the Second World War Baldwin worked as an Air Warden.[2] By 1946 Baldwin had advanced to the position of lecturer in biochemistry at Cambridge. In 1947, he published the first edition (of five) of Dynamic Aspects of Biochemistry, a widely used (and translated) textbook that won the 1952 European Cortina-Ulisse Prize.[1] Baldwin's research at St. John's from 1940 to 1949 focused on the roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides. He also spent the summer of 1948 at the Marine Biological Laboratory, studying phosphagen in invertebrates.[3] In 1949, Baldwin was Joint Honorary Secretary and member of the Congress and Executive Committees, active in the organisation of the First International Congress of Biochemistry, in Cambridge.[1][4]
In 1950, Baldwin moved to University College, London, as chair of biochemistry. In addition to developing a biochemistry curriculum and managing new laboratory facilities, Baldwin's main areas of research at University College were comparative biochemistry, particularly in relation to nitrogen metabolism and ureotelic metabolism. With M. B. Donald, Ramsay professor of Chemical engineering, Baldwin set up a joint diploma, later a master's programme in biochemical engineering at UCL.[5] His work was well regarded, especially abroad, and he held visiting professorships at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Kansas.[1]
Baldwin alumni include Frederick Sanger.[6]
Personal life and death
Ernest Baldwin was born in Gloucester to Hubert Charles Baldwin, organist and music teacher, and Nellie Victoria Baldwin (née Hailes). In 1933 he married Pauline Mary Edwards, and they had two children, Nicola and Nigel St. John. Baldwin died of congestive heart failure in 1969 after a prolonged struggle with myotonic muscular dystrophy.[1]
List of works
- Baldwin, Ernest; Moyle Needham, Dorothy (April 1937). "A contribution to the comparative biochemistry of muscular and electrical tissues". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences. 122 (827): 197–219. Bibcode:1937RSPSB.122..197B. doi:10.1098/rspb.1937.0021.
- An Introduction to Comparative Biochemistry (1937). Second edition, 1940; third edition 1948; fourth edition, 1964.
- Dynamic Aspects of Biochemistry (1947).[7]
- The Nature of Biochemistry (1947) ISBN 978-0521091770.[8]
References
- S. P. Datta. "Baldwin, Ernest Hubert Francis (1909–1969), biochemist", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. Accessed October 3, 2007.
- "44 Highworth-Avenue". Capturing Cambridge. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
- National Cataloguing Unit for the Archives of Contemporary Scientists, The Library, Bath University, "Guide to the manuscript papers of British scientists: B Archived 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine". Accessed October 5, 2007.
- Slater, E. C. (2000). "International Congresses of Biochemistry—Personal Recollections". IUBMB Life. 49 (5): 331–337. doi:10.1080/152165400410164. PMID 10902564.
- " Biochemical Chemistry - Awards". IChemE. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
- "Frederick Sanger". The Times. 21 November 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
- "Review of Dynamic Aspects of Biochemistry". The Quarterly Review of Biology. 29 (4): 393. 1954. doi:10.1086/400525. JSTOR 2815496.
- Young, F.G. (September 1963). "Book Reviews: Nature of Biochemistry, by Ernest Baldwin, B.A., Ph.D. 111 pp. Cambridge University Press. London, 1962. 13s. 6d". Royal Society of Health Journal. 83 (5): 251. doi:10.1177/146642406308300521. S2CID 72181074.