Dame Alice Owen's School, Dugdale Hill Ln, Potters Bar EN6 2DU, United Kingdom
Frederick studied at Dame Alice Owen's School, where he was persuaded by the school science master, G. A. Armitage that he should go into science, despite his artistic skills.
College/University
Gallery of Frederick Gregory
Imperial College London, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
In 1912, Frederick gained acceptance into Imperial College London. He received his Bachelor of Science in 1915. Having been exempted from service in World War I he gained his Master of Science in 1920 and the Doctor of Science in 1921.
Career
Gallery of Frederick Gregory
United Kingdom
Frederick Gugenheim Gregory
Achievements
Membership
Royal Society of London
1940 - 1961
United Kingdom
Gregory was elected a member of the Royal Society in 1940.
Dame Alice Owen's School, Dugdale Hill Ln, Potters Bar EN6 2DU, United Kingdom
Frederick studied at Dame Alice Owen's School, where he was persuaded by the school science master, G. A. Armitage that he should go into science, despite his artistic skills.
Imperial College London, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
In 1912, Frederick gained acceptance into Imperial College London. He received his Bachelor of Science in 1915. Having been exempted from service in World War I he gained his Master of Science in 1920 and the Doctor of Science in 1921.
Frederick Gregory was a British botanist. He was the head of the Research Institute of Plant Physiology at Imperial College London.
Background
Frederick Gregory was born Fritz Gugenheim on December 22, 1893, in London. He changed his name as a result of the anti-German sentiment during the First World War, which culminated in the destruction of his laboratory notebooks by colleagues at the Cheshunt Experimental Station.
Education
Frederick first studied at Dame Alice Owen's School, where he was persuaded by the school science master, G. A. Armitage that he should go into science, despite his artistic skills. He left the school at the top of his class with a number of prizes and passed the intermediate exam for the University of London in mathematics, physics, chemistry and mechanics in 1912, gaining acceptance into Imperial College London. His intention when applying had been to study chemistry, but after attending a lecture by John Bretland Farmer he switched to botany, gaining his Bachelor of Science in 1915. Having been exempted from service in World War I he gained his Master of Science in 1920 and the Doctor of Science in 1921.
After the completion of his studies, Gregory began working on the effects of electric current on plant growth under Vernon Blackman but remained interested in the study of growth, and began experimenting with that in 1919 at the Rothamsted Experimental Station, something he continued until 1937. When Blackman was appointed head of the biological laboratories at Imperial College Gregory was made an assistant professor of plant physiology and assistant director of the research institute, resulting in him having to give lectures at the university. Under Gregory the research institute became known for its work investigating vernalization, photoperiodism, transpiration and carbohydrate metabolism, with Gregory in high demand as an advisor both at the university and its various research institutes.
After Blackman's retirement in 1937 Gregory was made a head of the laboratories, although work at the university was heavily disrupted by World War II. In 1947 Gregory was appointed a head of the research institute as well, and focused on repairing damage from the war. He retired in December 1958.
Gregory’s unusual abilities in mathematics, physics, and chemistry enabled him to foresee the major role that biochemistry and physics would play in physiology and development. This ability, along with his voracious scientific curiosity, extended his work over an enormous range of topics; and it is difficult to select his chief contributions to botanical science. His development of new methods of growth analysis and introduction of the term “net assimilation rate” to denote average photosynthetic efficiency of leaves were the basis of his early reputation.
With O. N. Purvis he proved that the effect of controlled low (1°C.) temperatures which will convert a “winter” rye to a “spring” rye - the effect known as vernalization - is exerted upon the embryo itself. They showed that excised embryos can be vernalized in the presence of sugar and a minimal oxygen concentration and that the effect is specifically due to temperature. This work and other work with F. J. Richards on mineral nutrition, aimed at determining the physiological causes underlying crop growth, also attracted much attention because of their value to agriculture.
The outcome of Gregory’s 1928 visit to the Gazira Research Station in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan was increased knowledge of the factors affecting cotton production and provided the basis for strengthening the economy of Sudan. Although he never returned to Gazira, he advised from London and served on both the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Empire Cotton Growing Corporation and the London Advisory Committee in Agricultural Work in Sudan. His invention of the resistance parameter and the diffusion parameter enabled the sophisticated study of stomatal physiology and the factors controlling transpiration.
Gregory was elected a member of the Royal Society in 1940. In 1956 he was elected a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States.