author
Francis Gano Benedict
1870–1957
A pioneer of human metabolism research, this American chemist and physiologist helped turn the study of nutrition into a precise laboratory science. He is especially remembered for developing instruments that measured oxygen use and metabolic rate.
1 Audiobook
Respiration Calorimeters for Studying the Respiratory Exchange and Energy Transformations of Man
by Francis Gano Benedict, Thorne M. (Thorne Martin) Carpenter
About the author
Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on October 3, 1870, he became an American chemist, physiologist, and nutritionist whose work helped shape modern metabolic research. He studied at Harvard and at the University of Heidelberg, and went on to build a career around the measurement of how the body uses energy.
He is best known for developing a calorimeter and a spirometer used to measure oxygen consumption and metabolic rate. Benedict led the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Nutrition Laboratory in Boston for many years, where he carried out influential studies on human metabolism, fasting, respiration, and nutrition.
Francis Gano Benedict died in 1957, leaving behind a body of work that made physiology more quantitative and experimental. His books and papers remained important references for later researchers studying nutrition, exercise, and the chemistry of everyday bodily function.