Technikatörténeti szemle 22. (1996)

Papers from the Second International Conference on the History of Chemistry and Chemical Industry (Eger, Hungary, 16–19 August, 1995) - Hannus, István: Albert Szent-Györgyi in the New York Times

The New York Times The journal was founded in 1851, and in the 20th century, especially after World War II, it became one of the best-known and most-respected American newspapers. The first report in connection with Albert Szent-Györgyi in The New York Times was published in 1933, in the "Week of science" section of the Sunday issue. The first part of the paper, entitled "The power of sound", deals with an interesting result discovered by American researchers. "Astonishing things happened. Small animals and bacteria were killed by the vibrations. Liquids boiled and decomposed. Waves were set up in them of a strange order."...."... physicists and chemists began to explore the new field. The latest of them is Professor A. Szent-Györgyi, known over the world for his work in trying to find out of what vitamins are composed. In fact, Szent-Györgyi is one of the leaders in organic chemistry. He used ultra-sonic radiations or supersonic vibrations to break down cane sugar into simple molecules called monosaccharides, as well as starch, gelatin and gum acacia. ... Szent-Györgyi suggests that ultra-sonic vibration may furnish in the end a method for the measurement of the strength of chemical links."

5 The second piece of news came just a week later from the Budapest correspondent of The New York Times, under the title "Vitamin C may be obtained from paprika, chemist finds." "General scientific interest has been aroused by the claim of a prominent Hungarian chemist, Dr. Albert Szentgyoergyi, professor at Szegedin University, to have discovered after ten years research a method of producing vitamin C artifically. Professor Szentgyoergyi says he has established that the vitamin is abundantly present in the Hungarian paprika, or sweet pepper, which he holds contains at least four times as much vitamin C as an orange or a lemon. In his experiments he has used 10 000 paprikas and claims that he has now extracted the vitamin, which can be administered in the form of powder or pills even to tiny babies. Professor Szentgyoergyi's research work has been financed by wealthy American friends. He has already been invited to lecture on his discoveries in Berlin, Stockholm and Copenhagen."

6 The third article was the news of his winning the Nobel Prize from Stockholm in 1937: "NOBEL PRIZE GOES TO SZENT-GYORGYI; Hungarian wins the award in medicine for discoveries in biological combustion; He isolated vitamin C."

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