Category: Science history

In 1912, Polish American biochemist Casimir Funk coined the term "vitamine" after his groundbreaking work on deficiency diseases like beriberi. This moment sparked a global awareness of essential nutrients, with a coalition of researchers, public health officials, and marketers working to popularize vitamins and transform modern nutrition.

The word "vitamin" was officially coined in 1912 by Polish biochemist Casimir Funk, stemming from a belief that these vital substances were all a specific type of chemical called an amine. This name, a combination of 'vital' and 'amine', reflected the perception that these compounds were both essential for life and contained a nitrogen-based amine group.

A groundbreaking discovery in the early 20th century transformed nutrition science and public health forever, leading to the identification of hidden 'accessory factors' essential for life. These landmark findings, led by key figures in biochemistry, uncovered the existence of what we now know as vitamins A and B, paving the way for a new understanding of diet and disease.

For centuries, the debilitating bone disease rickets plagued children worldwide, but it wasn't until the early 20th century that the cause was definitively identified. A complex series of investigations eventually revealed who discovered vitamin D and when, showcasing a multi-researcher effort rather than a single 'eureka' moment.

In 1912, Polish biochemist Casimir Funk coined the term "vitamine," but the discovery of the vitamin theory was not a singular event and involved the work of multiple researchers over several decades. The foundational concept emerged from the recognition that certain diseases, like beriberi and scurvy, resulted from the absence of essential, yet-to-be-identified, factors in the diet.

While the query of what vitamin was invented by a teacher often leads to speculation, the correct answer reveals a fascinating piece of nutritional history involving prominent professor and scientist, Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins. Instead of inventing a vitamin, he identified the concept of 'accessory food factors'—the tiny, essential nutrients we now know as vitamins—marking a pivotal moment in our understanding of health and nutrition.

While Hippocrates famously advised 'let food be thy medicine' around 400 BC, the scientific analysis of food began much later, during the late 18th-century Chemical Revolution. The formal science of nutrition was not 'invented' at a single moment but evolved over centuries through critical experiments and discoveries.

Danish biochemist Henrik Dam conducted a series of experiments on chickens in the late 1920s that revealed a new fat-soluble nutrient responsible for blood clotting. He gave this crucial substance its unique designation, explaining exactly how vitamin K was named and cementing its place in medical history.

The idea of quantifying food energy emerged in the 18th century, but its standardized use in nutrition took decades of scientific refinement. Discover how scientists, starting with pioneering chemists, figured out how were calories in food discovered and applied to everyday life.

The word 'calorie' originates from the Latin word for heat, *calor*. This fundamental unit of energy, familiar from every food label, has a surprising history rooted in 19th-century physics and the study of steam engines, which helps explain why it is called a calorie.