Wilbur Scoville
Encyclopedia
Wilbur Lincoln Scoville was an American
pharmacist
and is best known for his creation of "The Scoville Organoleptic Test", now standardized as the Scoville scale
. He devised the test and scale in 1912 while working at the Parke-Davis
pharmaceutical company to measure piquancy, or "hotness", of various chile peppers. Wilbur was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut on January 22. He married Cora B. Upham on September 1, 1891 in Wollaston (Quincy, Massachusetts). He had two children, Amy Augusta, born August 21, 1892 and Ruth Upham, born October 21, 1897.
In 1922, Scoville won the Ebert prize from the American Pharmaceutical Association and in 1929 he received the Remington Honor Medal. Scoville also received an honorary Doctor of Science from Columbia University
in 1929.
Scoville wrote The Art of Compounding, which was first published in 1895 and has gone through at least 8 editions. The book was used as a pharmacological reference up until the 1960s. Scoville also wrote Extract and Perfumes, which contained hundreds of formulations.
He won the following awards from the American Pharmaceutical Association (APhA):
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pharmacist
Pharmacist
Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...
and is best known for his creation of "The Scoville Organoleptic Test", now standardized as the Scoville scale
Scoville scale
The Scoville scale is a measurement of the spicy heat of a chili pepper. The number of Scoville heat units indicates the amount of capsaicin present. Capsaicin is a chemical compound that stimulates chemoreceptor nerve endings in the skin, especially the mucous membranes.The scale is named after...
. He devised the test and scale in 1912 while working at the Parke-Davis
Parke-Davis
Parke-Davis is a subsidiary of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. Although no longer an independent corporation, it was once America's oldest and largest drug maker, and played an important role in medical history.- History :...
pharmaceutical company to measure piquancy, or "hotness", of various chile peppers. Wilbur was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut on January 22. He married Cora B. Upham on September 1, 1891 in Wollaston (Quincy, Massachusetts). He had two children, Amy Augusta, born August 21, 1892 and Ruth Upham, born October 21, 1897.
In 1922, Scoville won the Ebert prize from the American Pharmaceutical Association and in 1929 he received the Remington Honor Medal. Scoville also received an honorary Doctor of Science from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1929.
Scoville wrote The Art of Compounding, which was first published in 1895 and has gone through at least 8 editions. The book was used as a pharmacological reference up until the 1960s. Scoville also wrote Extract and Perfumes, which contained hundreds of formulations.
He won the following awards from the American Pharmaceutical Association (APhA):
- 1922 - The Ebert Prize, given to "...recognize the author(s) of the best report of original investigation of a medicinal substance..."
- 1929 - The Remington Honor Medal, the APhA's top award.
External links
- Wilbur Scoville profile on NNDBNNDBThe Notable Names Database , produced by Soylent Communications, the same entity that produces Rotten, Daily Rotten, Dr. Sputnik's Society Pages and Penny Postcards, is an online database of biographical details of over 36,000 people of note...
- What are Scoville Units?, tabasco.com