Humphry Bowen
Humphry John Moule Bowen | |
|---|---|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Analytical chemistry, botany |
| Institutions | Atomic Energy Research Establishment University of Reading |
Humphry John Moule Bowen (22 June 1929 – 9 August 2001) was a British
Early life and education
Bowen was born in
Oxford University in 1953 before starting his professional career as a chemist. Bowen was also a proficient amateur actor in his early years, appearing with a young Ronnie Barker at Oxford.[3]
Research career
His first post was with the
trace elements that he maintained throughout his working life. While at AERE, he spent several months in 1956 attending the British nuclear tests at Maralinga in Australia to study the environmental effects of radiation.[4]
Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford, England.[10]
Bowen realized that the
trace elements was an important issue that needed addressing. His solution was to produce a good supply of a material which later become known as Bowen's Kale.[11] This was a dried, crushed chomogenate of the plant kale, that was stable and consistent enough to be distributed as a research calibration standard - probably the first successful example of such a standard.[6]
In 1964, he was appointed as a lecturer in the chemistry department at the
Trace elements in Biochemistry (1966 and 1976).[12]
In 1968, Bowen noted that the paint used for
dermatitis ulceration on the skin, inflammation of the nasal mucosa and larynx, and lung cancer.[13]
From 1951 onwards, Bowen was a long-serving member of the
Floras for both counties.[1][2] He retired to Winterborne Kingston in Dorset at the end of his life. He was also one of the leading contributors of botanical data for the Flora of Oxfordshire.[14] He acted as an expert botanical guide on tours around Europe, especially Greece and Turkey.[4]
Humphry Bowen donated a large collection of
Museum of Reading in the 1970s.[15] He established the Bowen Cup at the University of Reading in 1988, an annual prize for the student in the Department of Chemistry at the University who achieves the top marks in Part II Analytical Chemistry.[16]
See also
- Bowen's son, Jonathan Bowen, a computer scientist.[8]
- George Claridge Druce, the Victorian botanist who also wrote floras for more than one county.
- Tottles.
Bibliography
- H. J. M. Bowen, Trace Elements in Biochemistry. Academic Press, 1966.
- H. J. M. Bowen, Properties of Solids and their Structures. McGraw-Hill, 1967.
- H. J. M. Bowen, Environmental Chemistry of the Elements. Academic Press, 1979. ISBN 0-12-120450-2.
References
- ^ a b Bowen, H. J. M. (1968). The Flora of Berkshire. Oxford: Holywell Press.
- ^ ISBN 1-874357-16-1. Archived from the original on 2 September 2006.)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link - ^ a b c "Obituary: Humphry Bowen". The Times. 28 August 2001. Archived from the original on 2 December 2007. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Moffatt, J. Michael (17 October 2001). "Humphry Bowen: Practical botanist and chemist exploring the natural world". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
- ^ "Obituaries: Humphry Bowen". The Daily Telegraph. 5 September 2001. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
- ^ a b "Obituaries: Humphry Bowen". The Independent. 25 September 2001. Retrieved 6 October 2011.[dead link]
- Watsonia. 24: 268–270.
- ^ ISBN 1-899536-25-6.
- ^ "Gibbs Prizes". UK: University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
- Museum of the History of Science. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
- S2CID 93854964.
- ^ "H. J. M. Bowen". Open Library. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
- ^ doi:10.1038/218106c0.
- ISBN 1-874357-07-2.
- ^ Notton, David. "The Bowen collection of Lichens at Reading Museum" (PDF). UK: Collections Gateway. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
- Archive.org. 2010. Archived from the originalon 11 September 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
External links
Media related to Humphry Bowen at Wikimedia Commons
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