Frederick Gowland Hopkins Biography

Fredrick Gowland Hopkins was a renowned biochemist from England who discovered the vitamins. His interest in science was developed by his father who himself was greatly attracted to the subject. After his father’s early demise he was brought up by his mother and he showed more interest in literature than in sciences. A microscope which was presented to him by his mother piqued the young lad’s interest. Apart from investigating specimens from the seashore Fredrick also devoted much of his time studying literature. He was always an intelligent student and at the tender of seventeen he penned his first scientific literature which dealt with bombardier beetle. After completing his graduate studies Hopkins appeared for the Associateship Examination of the Institute of Chemistry. His sterling performance landed him a research assistantship under Thomas Stevenson. Fredrick then went on to study medicine and even here proved his mettle by winning the Gold Medal in chemistry. After successfully completing his studies in medicine he embarked on an academic career teaching toxicology. In due course he began his most important work on proteins which led to the discovery of vitamins. The findings paved way for subsequent research in the field by scientists like Otto Meyerhof and even earned him a Nobel Prize. Read on to know more about his life and works