Helen Abbott Michael

Infobox Person
name = Helen Abbott Michael


image_size = 180px
caption =
birth_date = December 23 1857
birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
death_date = November 29 1904
death_place = Boston, Massachusetts, USA
occupation = Writer, chemist, biologist, doctor
spouse = Arthur Michael
parents = James Abbott, Caroline Montelius
children =

Helen Cecilia De Silver Abbott Michael, M.D. (December 23 1857 – November 29 1904) was an American scientist who was among the first to "in a systematic way study the relation of chemical composition to species of plants and to plant growth." [Citation | last1 = Wiley | first1 = Harvey W. | contribution = | year = 1907 | title = Studies in Plant and Organic Chemistry | pages = 111–3 | place = | publisher = Riverside Press |url = http://books.google.com/books?id=XOUMAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Studies+in+Plant+and+Organic+Chemistry#PPA109,M1 | access-date = 2008-01-06] Michael theorized that the chemical composition of plants over the course of their development provided an illustration for the theory of evolution. She also was a student of Harvard organic chemist Arthur Michael (known for the Michael reaction), whom she subsequently married.

Life and work

Helen Cecilia De Silver Abbott was born in Philadelphia in 1857 to James Abbott and Caroline Montelius. Helen originally focused on being a pianist, but in 1881 she turned to science after purchasing a copy of Helmholtz's "Treatise on Physiological Optics". After an incident in which some children ingested poisonous roots, she developed and pursued an interest in the chemical properties of plants, and their origin, aided by self-study, travel, and family connections. This interest led her to work at the chemistry laboratory of Professor Henry Trimble of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and later with Professor Arthur Michael of Tufts University, who she married in 1888. She and Michael then moved to the Isle of Wight for several years, doing chemical research in a self-equipped laboratory. On their return to the United States, Helen Abbott Michael began studying medicine at the Tufts University School of Medicine in 1900, earning an M.D. degree in 1903. She established a hospital for the poor, but then died the following year from influenza, contracted from one of her patients. She was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia (section W-111). [Citation | last1 = Dole | first1 = Nathan Haskel | contribution = Helen Abbott Michael - A Biographical Sketch | year = 1907 | title = Studies in Plant and Organic Chemistry | pages = 3–107 | place = | publisher = Riverside Press | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=XOUMAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Studies+in+Plant+and+Organic+Chemistry#PPA3,M1 | access-date = 2008-01-06]

Michael predicted in a lecture on "Plant Analysis as an Applied Science" that chemists of the future would be able to produce, through synthetic means, the proteins, sugars, and starches needed in the human diet. She also held that during a plant's development, changes in its chemical composition provided an illustration of the theory of evolution. [http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/JCEWWW/Features/eChemists/Bios/michael.html Biographical Snapshots of Famous Women and Minority Chemists: Snapshot - Helen Cecilia DeSilver Abbott Michael"] , "Journal of Chemical Education". Accessed January 5 2008] [Citation | last1 = Michael | first1 = Helen Abbott | contribution = Plant Analysis as an Applied Science | year = 1887 | title = Studies in Plant and Organic Chemistry | pages = 175–209 | place = | publisher = Riverside Press |url = http://books.google.com/books?id=qABKAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA3&dq=helen+abbott+michael#PPA175,M1 | access-date = 2008-01-06]

elected writings

*- Contains reprints of many of Helen Abbott Michael's papers, along with an extensive biographical sketch

Activities and honors

* American Philosophical Society
* American Association for the Advancement of Science
* Franklin Institute of Philadelphia
* Deutsche Chemische Gesellschaft (Berlin)

References

Further reading

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External links

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