Dr. Dipanwita Sengupta
Grants Manager, DBT Wellcome Trust India Alliance
Email id. sengupta.dipanwita@gmail.com
In the history of science research, some researchers are found to be ignored and deprived of due recognition despite making seminal contributions. They remained unsung heroes in the history of science. Let us look into some selected examples.
Benjamin Jesty (1736-1816) a farmer at Yetminster in Dorset, England, successfully immunised his wife and two sons against smallpox, 22 years ahead the famous vaccination performed by Edward Jenner ( May 14, 1796). But it was Jenner who got recognition as the discoverer of smallpox vaccine. As stated by Stefan Rideal, a scientist at the Baylor University Medical Center (Dallas, Texas) “Jenner's work is widely regarded as the foundation of immunology—despite the fact that he was neither the first to suggest that infection with cowpox conferred specific immunity to smallpox, nor the first to attempt cowpox inoculation for this purpose” [Bayl Univ Med Cent) 2005 Jan; 18(1): 21–25]. In 1829 John Fosbroke wrote that if Jenner had not had “fortune, fame and high alliance, his merit would have been crushed or faintly supported” [British Medical Journal January 7, 1995; Vol 310, p : 62]. But even now we highlight Jenner as the discoverer of smallpox vaccine and most of the researchers working in the relevant area, have not even heard of the name of Jesty.
Henrietta Swan Leavitt (1868-1921) worked as an assistant with Edward C Pickering at the Harvard College observatory. Usual for that time, she faced prejudice against women. While studying photographic plates for images of stars, she developed a simple relationship between the brightness of a variable and its period of pulsing termed “Period-Luminosity Relation” which was further extended to predict distance of the stars. She remained unrecognized during her lifetime. A nomination for Nobel Prize for Leavitt was considered in 1926, five years after she died of cancer.
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) was the co-discoverer of the theory of evolution which fetched fame for Charles Darwin. The co-authored paper with Darwin published in 1858 on the topic did not attract attention of the scientists’ community. However, in the following year, Darwin’s book titled ‘On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection’ captured the limelight and the contribution of Wallace remained unrecognized.
Lise Meitner (1878-1968) worked on nuclear physics and was the first woman in Germany to hold the post of professor in Physics at the University of Berlin. When she was forced to flee to Sweden due to political issues, she continued to collaborate with chemist Otto Hahn from Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut. Hahn was theonly recipient of Nobel Prize in 1944 for the discovery of nuclear fission which was an outcome of the joint work with Lise Meitner as a partner.
Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858-1937) made a public demonstration of long-distance communication in 1896 in the presence of the then Governor of Bengal. After five years, the Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi demonstrated trans-Atlantic radio communication and got the Nobel Prize in 1909 jointly with Karl Ferdinand Braun for contribution to the development of wireless telegraphy. Contribution of J.C.Bose was totally ignored.
Yellapragada Subbarao (1895-1948) went to obtain a diploma from Harvard University after studying from the Madras Medical College. While working as a junior faculty member in Harvard, he discovered the role of Phosphocreatine and Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) in muscular activity and developed a method to synthesize Folic Acid (Vitamin B9). The first anticancer drug methotrexate and the anthelmintic drug Diethylcarbamazine (recommended by the World Health Organization for mass- scale use for the clinical management of filaria) were also discovered by Subbarao. He also made significant contribution in the discovery of the antibiotic aureomycine. But his role was not recognized in these areas.
Rosalind Elsie Franklin (1920–1958) working on X-ray diffraction techniques confirmed the helical structure of DNA. Her study provided useful insights to Watson and Crick in developing the model for the structure of DNA that was awarded Nobel Prize in 1962. Franklin was deprived.
Subhas Mukherjee (1931-1981) faced social ostracization, bureaucratic negligence, reprimand and insult instead of recognition for developing the first test tube baby in India. Out of frustration he committed suicide. His claim was recognized a couple of years after his death.
There are many examples of this sort. The eminent botanist Sir Francis Darwin (son of illustrious Charles Darwin, famous for his theory of evolution) wrote “In science the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not the man to whom the idea first occurs”. That is why we find the history of science replete with examples of deprivation.
However, that does not deter the scientists from pursuing their endeavour to explore the uncharted areas in the field of research. It is the compelling desire to know the unknown and not the lure for name and fame that acts as a driving force behind the pursuit of the scientists.
