Rothamsted Experimental Station: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article

All Topics

Rothamsted Experimental Station

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

	Rothamsted Experimental Station
	Home Discussion
	Topics Rothamsted Experimental Station Topic Home The Rothamsted Experimental Station, one of the oldest agricultural research institutionsAgricultural experiment station An agricultural experiment station is a research center that conducts scientific investigations to solve problems and sugges... in the world, is located at HarpendenHarpenden Harpenden is a town in the City and District of St Albans of Hertfordshire in the East of England. ... in HertfordshireHertfordshire Hertfordshire is an inland county in England and is one of the Home Counties.... , EnglandEngland England is the largest and most populous constituent country of the United Kingdom.... . It is now known as Rothamsted Research. History It was founded in 1843 by John Bennet LawesJohn Bennet Lawes Sir John Bennet Lawes was an English entrepreneur and agricultural scientist.... on his inherited 16th century16th century As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600.... estate, Rothamsted Manor, to investigate the impact of inorganic and organic fertilizers on crop yield. Lawes, a noted Victorian eraVictorian era The Victorian era of Great Britain marked the height of the British industrial revolution and the apex of the British Empire... entrepreneur and scientist, had founded one of the first artificial fertilizer manufacturing factories one year earlier in 1842. Appointing a young chemist, Joseph Henry GilbertJoseph Henry Gilbert Sir Joseph Henry Gilbert was an English chemist born at Hull on the 1st of August 1817.... , as his scientific collaborator, Lawes launched the first of a series of long-term field experiments, some of which continue to this day. Over the next 57 years, Lawes and Gilbert established the foundations of modern scientific agriculture and the principles of crop nutrition. In 1902 Daniel HallAlfred Daniel Hall Sir Alfred Daniel Hall was a British agricultural educationist and researcher.... moved from Wye CollegeWye College Wye College was founded in 1447 by John Kempe, the Archbishop of York, as a college for the training of priests.... to become director. Hall took a lower salary to join an establishment lacking money, staff, and direction. Hall decided that Rothamsted needed to specialise and that it needed new sources of finance. He was eventually successful in obtaining state support for agricultural research. In 1912 John RussellE. John Russell Sir Edward John Russell FRS was a Briitsh agriculturalist and director of Rothamsted Experimental Station from 1912 to 1943.... who had come from Wye in 1907 took over as director and continued in the post until 1943. Russell saw through a major expansion in the 1920s1920s The 1920s was a decade sometimes referred to as the "Jazz Age" or the "Roaring Twenties," usually applied to America.... . In 1943 Russell retired and was replaced by Sir William Gammie OggWilliam Gammie Ogg Overview Sir William Gammie Ogg was a British horticultural scientist and Director of Rothamsted Experimental Station... . During Ogg's directorship which ended in 1958 the number of staff increased from 140 to 471 and new departments of biochemistryBiochemistry Biochemistry is the study of the chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms.... , nematologyNematode The nematodes or roundworms are one of the most common phyla of animals, with over 20,000 different described species... , and pedologyPedology (soil study) Pedology , is the study of soils in its natural environment.... were formed. Many distinguished scientists have been associated with Rothamsted. In 1919 Russell hired Ronald FisherRonald Fisher Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher, FRS was an British statistician, evolutionary biologist, and geneticist.... to investigate the possibility of analysing the vast amount of data accumulated from the "Classical Field Experiments." Fisher analysed the data and stayed to create the theory of experimental design, making Rothamsted a major centre for research in statisticsStatistics Overview Statistics is a mathematical science pertaining to the collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data.... and geneticsGenetics Genetics is the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms.... . Among his appointments and successors in the Statistics department were Oscar IrwinJoseph Oscar Irwin Overview Joseph Oscar Irwin British statistician who advanced the use of statistical methods in biological assay and other fields of ... , John WishartFacts About John Wishart (statistician) John Wishart was a Scottish agricultural statistician.... , Frank YatesFrank Yates Frank Yates was one of the pioneers of 20th century statistics.... , William CochranWilliam Gemmell Cochran William Gemmell Cochran was a prominent statistician; he was born in Scotland but spent most of his life in the United State... and John NelderJohn Nelder John Ashworth Nelder FRS is a British statistician.... . Indeed, many consider Rothamsted to be the birthplace of modern statistical theory and practice. Partly through these methods, researchers at Rothamsted have made significant contributions to agricultural science, including the discovery and development of systemic herbicides and pyrethroid insecticides, as well as pioneering contributions to the fields of virology, nematology, soil science and pesticide resistance. During World War IIWorld War II Summary World War II, or the Second World War, was a worldwide conflict fought between the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers ,... , aiming to increase crop yields for a nation at war, a team under the leadership of Judah Hirsch Quastel developed 2,4-D, still the most widely used weed-killer in the world. In 1987 Rothamsted, the Long Ashton Research StationFacts About Long Ashton Research Station Long Ashton Research Station was an agricultural and horticultural government research centre in the village of Long Ashton ... , and Broom's Barn Experimental Station merged to form the Institute of Arable Crops Research (IACR). The station is now operated by a grouping of private organizations under the name of Rothamsted Research and is mainly funded by various branches of the UK government through the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research CouncilBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council is a British Research Council supporting several scientific resea... . Books A History of Agricultural Science in Great Britain 1620-1954, by E. J. Russell (1966) London, George Allen & Unwin. Sir John Russell was director of Rothamsted from 1912 to 1943, and his book emphasises the role of Rothamsted in the development of agricultural science in Britain. The early directors Lawes and Gilbert, Hall, Russell and Ogg all have entries in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004). External links Directors 1902-1958 Rothamsted chemists Some of the chemists associated with Rothamsted can be found by searching on Rothamsted on the .