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Albert Szent-Gyorgyi: Discoverer of Vitamin C
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10410 |
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Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
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| Issue
Date : |
12 / 1986 |
3,891 Words |
| Author
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Michael Woods
Michael Woods, a contributing editor for THE WORLD & I, has
received numerous science-writing awards. |
Along the rugged Massachusetts coast just outside Woods Hole, not far from the renowned Marine Biological Laboratory, stands "Seven Winds," a hilltop house that overlooks Buzzards Bay.
One day recently there sat inside the house:
·A scientist who won the Nobel Prize for isolating a compound taken daily by so many people that it may constitute self-medication on a scale unsurpassed in history.
·A World War II spy whose arrest was ordered personally by Adolf Hitler.
·A biochemist who worked out the first comprehensive explanation of how muscles contract and might have won or shared several Nobel Prizes for that and other achievements.
·An outspoken advocate of world peace who admits shooting himself in the arm to avoid further military service in World War I.
·A respected biomedical researcher convinced that he has found the ultimate cause of cancer, but who time and again has been denied research funding.
·An old man, approaching 100 years of age, who has published prayers and, indeed, his own catechism, yet who denies the existence of God.
But the only person at Seven Winds was its owner, Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, who satisfies each of these descriptions.
There exists a vast dearth of public knowledge about one of the most original personalities and towering intellects in all of science. Public recognition of Szent-Gyorgyi's name is virtually nil. Indeed, many scientists recall his achievements with difficulty, if at all, and are surprised when informed that he is still actively involved in research. Although his sole source of research funding has been terminated, Szent-Gyorgyi still tries to maintain his beloved laboratory at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory.
To some extent the low public recognition of Szent-Gyorgyi is understandable. For Dr. Szent-Gyorgyi (pronounced "Saint Georgie") was ninety-three on September 16, 1986, and his landmark achievements date back almost sixty years. It was in 1928 that he isolated ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, the
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