science · 19 April 1975 · 50 years ago
death
Died 19 Apr 1975 at age 76 (born 11 Apr 1899).
African-American chemist, whose 100 patents include the synthesis of cortisone, hormones, and other products from soybeans. He isolated from plants simple compounds and investigated how they were naturally altered into chemicals essential to life, including vitamins and hormones; then he attempted to create the compounds artificially. Early in his career he synthesized physostigmine, a glaucoma drug. A refined soya protein was the basis of Aero-Foam, a foam fire extinguisher used by the U.S. Navy in WW II. His efforts led to quantity production of the hormones progesterone (female), testosterone (male) and cortisone drugs. In 1950, his home in an all-white suburb was bombed and burned.
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