View source for Francis Gano Benedict

{{short description|American chemist, physiologist, and nutritionist}}
[[File:Francis Gano Benedict.jpg|thumb|250px|Francis Gano Benedict]]
[[File:Apparatus for Analysis of Atmospheric Air, Devised by Dr. Klas Sondén b1059805 001 tif st74cr21x.tiff|thumb|right|"Apparatus for Analysis of Atmospheric Air, Devised by Dr. Klas Sondén", frontispiece, ''The Composition of the Atmosphere with Special Reference to its Oxygen Content'' (1912)]]
'''Francis Gano Benedict''' (October 3, 1870 – April 14, 1957) was an [[Americans|American]] [[chemist]], [[Physiology|physiologist]], and [[nutritionist]] who developed a [[calorimeter]] and a [[spirometer]] used to determine oxygen consumption and measure [[metabolic rate]].<ref name="maynard">{{Cite journal
| pmid = 4891274|url=http://jn.nutrition.org/content/98/1/1.full.pdf+html
| year = 1969
| last1 = Maynard
| first1 = L. A.
| title = Francis Gano Benedict--a biographical sketch (1870-1957)
| journal = The Journal of Nutrition
| volume = 98
| issue = 1
| pages = 1–8
|doi=10.1093/jn/98.1.1
|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024
}}</ref>
==Biography==
Born in [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin]], Benedict attended [[Harvard University]], earning his [[bachelor's degree]] in 1893 and his [[master's degree]] in 1894. He earned his Ph.D., ''[[magna cum laude]]'', at [[Heidelberg University]] in 1895. He taught at [[Wesleyan University]] and did work for the [[U.S. Department of Agriculture]]. He was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1909,<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=June 2, 2011}}</ref> a member of the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1910,<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Francis+G.+Benedict&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> and the United States [[National Academy of Sciences]] in 1914.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Francis Benedict |url=https://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20001052.html |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref> He was also a descendant of [[John Gano]] of [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] fame, through his great-grandmother Margaret Hubbell Benedict (Gano).<ref>{{Citation |title=1. "Blood-Bought Fame": National Identity and Commemoration During the Revolutionary War, 1775-1781 |date=2002-12-31 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.9783/9780812203028.11 |work=Sealed with Blood |pages=11–48 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |doi=10.9783/9780812203028.11 |isbn=978-0-8122-3660-6 |access-date=2022-12-27}}</ref>
After retirement in 1937 he toured and lectured about [[Magic (illusion)|magician]]s. He died at his home in [[Machiasport, Maine]], aged 86.<ref name="nytobit">[[Associated Press]] (May 16, 1957). FRANCIS BENEDICT, A CHEMIST, WAS 86; Former Teacher at Wesleyan and Director of Carnegie Nutrition Laboratory Dies. ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref>
==Fasting study==
Benedict observed Agostino Levanzin, who [[Fasting|fasted]] for thirty-one days at the Carnegie nutrition laboratory.<ref>Benedict, Francis G. (1912). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1637139 ''An Experiment on a Fasting Man'']. ''Science'' 35 (909): 865.</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1912/05/22/archives/levanzins-new-charges-fasting-professor-says-he-was-nearly-killed.html "Levanzin's New Charges: Fasting Professor Says He Was Nearly Killed by Sulphuric Acid"]. ''The New York Times''.</ref> [[George F. Cahill Jr.]] was influenced by the study and conducted similar studies.<ref>Cahill, George F. (2006). [http://thehealthsciencesacademy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Fuel-Metabolism-in-Starvation_ReviewArticleTIMM2008-9Lazar-1.pdf ''FuelMetabolism in Starvation'']. Annu. Rev. Nutr. 26: 1-22. "In 1965, we enlisted six divinity students to fast for eight days and studied the levels of every metabolic substrate and hormone that we could measure. The central role of insulin in controlling the fed state had been well characterized, and its role in fasting needed clarification. Essentially, we repeated and expanded the 1911 classical study of starvation by Benedict, who fasted a Maltese, Mr. Levanzin, for 30 days and nights."</ref>
==Selected publications==
*[https://archive.org/details/influenceofinani00beneuoft/page/n6 ''The Influence of Inanition on Metabolism''] (1907)
*[https://archive.org/details/compositionofatm00beneuoft/page/n6 ''The Composition of the Atmosphere with Special Reference to its Oxygen Content''] (1912)
*[https://archive.org/details/studyofprolonged00beneuoft/page/n6 ''A Study of Prolonged Fasting''] (1915)
*[https://www.jstor.org/stable/83695 ''Chemical and Physiological Studies of a Man Fasting Thirty-One Days''] (1915)
*[https://archive.org/details/humanvitalityeff00beneuoft/page/n6 ''Human Vitality and Efficiency Under Prolonged Restricted Diet''] (1919)
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/med00029/catalog Francis Gano Benedict papers, 1870s-1957. MC 062. Harvard Medical Library, Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Boston, Mass.]
*[http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/benedict-francis-g.pdf National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir]
* {{Gutenberg author | id=33207| name=Francis Gano Benedict}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Francis Gano Benedict}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedict, Francis Gano}}
[[Category:1870 births]]
[[Category:1957 deaths]]
[[Category:American nutritionists]]
[[Category:Fasting researchers]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:Scientists from Milwaukee]]
[[Category:Heidelberg University alumni]]
[[Category:Wesleyan University faculty]]
[[Category:American expatriates in Germany]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]