H. E. Hinton facts for kids

Howard Everest Hinton (24 August 1912 – 2 August 1977) was a famous British scientist. He was an entomologist, which means he studied insects. He became a Professor and spent much of his life learning about beetles.

About Howard Hinton

Howard Hinton grew up in Mexico. He went to college at Modesto Junior College and the University of California, Berkeley. He earned his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1939. His special research was on Mexican water beetles.

During World War II, Howard Hinton helped protect food. He worked on ways to store food so that moths and beetles would not spoil it. This was very important during the war.

After getting his PhD, Hinton worked at the Natural History Museum, London. In 1949, he moved to the University of Bristol. He stayed there for the rest of his career, teaching and doing research.

Amazing Discoveries

Howard Hinton wrote 309 scientific papers. Many of these papers were about insect body structures and how to classify them. He even started and edited a science magazine called Journal of Insect Physiology.

He discovered a new stage in how insects change, called the pharate stage. This is when an insect has grown a new outer skin but is still inside its old skin. It's like wearing two coats at once!

Hinton was one of the first scientists to believe in continental drift. This idea says that Earth's continents slowly move over time. He noticed that certain water beetles in New Guinea and Australia were very similar. This suggested that these lands were once connected.

He also studied insect eggs a lot. He was especially interested in how insect eggs breathe. For many years, he researched something called cryptobiosis. This is when an animal can survive for a long time without water. He experimented with an African fly that could dry out and still live. He even thought this ability might help with space travel!

In 1965, he wrote an article suggesting a new idea. He thought that complex molecules for life might have survived long dry periods in Earth's atmosphere. Then, they could have been washed into the sea.

Many students learned from Howard Hinton. Some of his graduate students include Robin Baker and Geoff Parker. His scientific papers are kept at the University of Bristol. Most of his insect collection is at the Natural History Museum, London.

Awards and Recognition

Because of his important work, Howard Hinton was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1961. This is a very high honor for scientists in the United Kingdom.

Family Life

Howard Hinton married Margaret Clark in 1938. She was a teacher. They had four children together. Their children were Charlotte, James, Geoffrey Hinton, and Teresa. Geoffrey Hinton became a famous professor of computer science.

Howard's father, George Hinton, was a mining engineer and botanist. He managed a silver mine in Mexico. He also collected many new types of plants. Some of these plants are now in Kew Gardens. Howard Hinton's nephew, also named George Hinton, found a new type of cactus in Mexico. It was named Geohintonia after him.

Howard Hinton was also the great-grandson of George Boole. George Boole created mathematical logic, which is used in computers today. Howard's cousins include Joan Hinton, a scientist who worked on important projects, and William Hinton, who wrote a famous book about the Chinese revolution. His grandfather, Charles Howard Hinton, was a mathematician who studied four-dimensional space.