Herbert McLean Evans facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Herbert Evans
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Herbert McLean Evans in 1927
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Herbert McLean Evans
September 23, 1882 |
| Died | March 6, 1971 (aged 88) |
| Awards | Foreign Member of the Royal Society |
| Scientific career | |
| Notable students | Miriam Elizabeth Simpson |
Herbert McLean Evans (born September 23, 1882 – died March 6, 1971) was an important American scientist. He studied the human body and how living things develop. He is most famous for helping to discover Vitamin E.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Herbert Evans was born in Modesto, California. He studied hard and earned his medical degree in 1908 from Johns Hopkins University.
Scientific Career and Discoveries
After medical school, Evans became a professor of anatomy at Johns Hopkins University. In 1915, he moved to California. He became a professor of anatomy at the University of California, Berkeley, where he worked for the rest of his life.
Research on the Human Body
At Berkeley, his medical research focused on important topics like human nutrition (how we get energy from food) and endocrinology (the study of hormones). He also studied embryology (how living things develop from a single cell) and histology (the study of tissues).
Discovering Vitamin E
One of his most famous discoveries happened in 1922. Working with Katharine Scott Bishop, he was doing feeding experiments with rats. They found a new substance that was needed for healthy reproduction. This substance was later named Vitamin E.
In 1937, with Gladys Anderson Emerson, he successfully separated pure Vitamin E from wheat germ. He also figured out its chemical formula, C29H50O2.
Hormones and Growth
Evans also had great success studying hormones from the pituitary gland, a small gland in the brain. He was able to isolate Human Growth Hormone. This hormone is very important for how humans grow and develop.
He also helped develop research on reproductive systems. He worked with scientists like Miriam Elizabeth Simpson and Choh Hao Li. They studied the oestrus cycle (the reproductive cycle) in rats to learn more about reproduction.
Measuring Blood Volume
Evans is also known for creating a method called Evans blue. This method uses a special dye to help doctors measure the amount of blood in humans and animals. This is very useful in medicine.
Interest in Science History
Beyond his scientific work, Herbert Evans loved the history of science. He collected many rare and old books on scientific topics. His amazing collection was later bought by the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
He passed away in Berkeley, California, at the age of 88.
Famous Quote
Herbert Evans once said:
- "No single feature of man's past equals in importance his attempt to understand the forces of Nature and himself."
