William H. Crocker

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William H. Crocker (born January 7, 1876 in Medina , Ohio ; † February 11, 1950 ) was an American botanist.

Life

Crocker was a professor of plant physiology at the University of Chicago . From 1924 to 1949 he was director of the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (BTI) at Cornell University .

Crocker is known for his elucidation of the role of ethene as a plant hormone in the 1930s, for example in the ripening of fruits. Ethene has been used indirectly for plant ripening since ancient times. In the 19th century, the effects of gas leaks in city gas pipes for street lighting on plants (unusual growth phenomena) were found, and in 1901 the Russian scientist Dimitri Neljubow identified ethene as an active substance. In 1934 Gane demonstrated that plants synthesize ethene and in 1935 Crocker suggested that ethene, as a plant hormone, both promotes the ripening of fruits and hinders growth. At the time, many scientists were skeptical about the role of ethene because it was a gas. In the case of ethene, many scientists suspected that the main plant hormone auxin had an effect until the 1960s, which, as Croker showed, can stimulate ethene production.

He was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and, since 1931, of the American Philosophical Society .

Fonts

  • with Lee I. Knight: Effect of illuminating gas and ethylene upon flowering carnations, Botanical Gazette, 46, 1908, No. 4
  • with Lea V. Barton: Physiology of seeds; an introduction to the experimental study of seed and germination problems, Waltham / Massachusetts: Chronica Botanica 1957

literature

  • Edmund Ware Sinnott: William Crocker - The Man and Scientist (January 27, 1874 - February 11, 1950) . In: Contributions from Boyce Thompson Institute . tape 16 , 1951, pp. 1–3 ( online [PDF; 13.6 MB ; accessed on July 2, 2015]).

Web links

References and comments

  1. ^ The International Plant Growth Substances Association: Ethylene
  2. ↑ Mikal Salweit, Shang-Fa Yang, Woo Teak Kim, History of the discovery of ethylene as a plant growth substance, in Shain-Dow Kung, Shang-Fa Fang, Discoveries in Plant Physiology, Volume 1, World Scientific 1998, p. 54
  3. ^ Member History: William Crocker. American Philosophical Society, accessed July 2, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Crocker, William H.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American botanist
DATE OF BIRTH January 7, 1876
PLACE OF BIRTH Medina
DATE OF DEATH February 11, 1950