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[[File:R. H. A. Plimmer (1877-1955).png|thumb|right|Robert Henry Aders Plimmer]]
'''Robert Henry Aders Plimmer''' (25 April 1877 – 18 June 1955) was a British [[chemist]], [[biochemist]] and author, who researched [[protein]] chemistry, especially the [[phosphoprotein|phosphorylation of proteins]], and [[nutrition]], particularly [[vitamin]]s and the nutritional qualities of different proteins. He worked at the physiology department of [[University College, London]] (1904–19), latterly as reader in physiological chemistry, briefly headed the biochemistry department at the [[The Rowett Institute|Rowett Institute of Research in Animal Nutrition]] in [[Aberdeen]], and then returned to London to hold a chair in the chemistry department of [[St Thomas's Hospital Medical School]] (1922–42), and in retirement worked at the [[Royal Postgraduate Medical School|British Postgraduate Medical School]] (1943–55).

Plimmer's academic books include the monograph ''The Chemical Constitution of the Proteins'' (1908), the textbook ''Organic and Bio-Chemistry'' (1910), and the earliest food-composition tabulations relating to British foods (1921). With his wife, [[Violet Geraldine Plimmer]], he published several popular books about nutrition for a general audience, including ''Vitamins and the Choice of Food'' (1922) and ''Food, Health, Vitamins'' (1925), whose "square meal" chart one reviewer advises "should be hung up over every housekeeper's desk".<ref name=Nature_FHV /> He is also remembered for his role in the foundation and early years of the [[Biochemical Society]]; he was the body's first honorary secretary and treasurer, twice chaired the committee (1922–23 and 1939–40), and was elected an honorary member in 1943. He published a history of the society in 1949 that is considered a valuable source for the history of biochemistry in the UK.

==Early life and education==
Robert Henry Aders was born on 25 April 1877, at [[Elberfeld]] in Germany, the eldest son of Bertha Helena Aders, who was German, and Alfred Aders (died 1885), a businessman from Manchester. He was brought up in England, mainly in [[Surrey]].<ref name=ODNB /> Two years after his father's death, his mother married [[Henry George Plimmer]], a pathologist and microbiologist who was later elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]],<ref name=Times_HGPlimmer /> and Robert Aders eventually came to use his stepfather's surname.<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=BiochemJ_obit />{{efn|He largely published as R. H. A. Plimmer, but R. H. Aders Plimmer also occurs and his earliest papers appeared under the name R. H. Aders.<ref name=BiochemJ_obit />}} He attended [[Dulwich College]] and then went up to [[University College, London]], studying organic chemistry,<ref name=Kohler_2011 /> where he gained his BSc (1899) and DSc (1902).<ref name=ODNB /> 

Before being awarded his DSc degree, he also studied with [[Carl Graebe]] at the [[University of Geneva]], and then researched [[enzyme]]s and [[protein]] chemistry for two years under [[Emil Fischer]] at the [[University of Berlin]],<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=BiochemJ_obit /><ref name=BMJ_obit /> gaining a PhD (1902) from Berlin.<ref name=ODNB /> He returned to the UK to become a research student at the Jenner Institute of Preventive Medicine (later the [[Lister Institute]]; 1902–4).<ref name=BiochemJ_obit />

==Career==
Plimmer joined the staff of University College in 1904, where he became a fellow (1906), and then assistant professor (1907–12) and reader (1912–19) in physiological chemistry, working in the physiology department under [[William Bayliss]] and [[Ernest Starling]].<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /><ref name=BMJ_obit /> Other collaborators at University College included Frederick Hughes Scott<ref name=Blaschko /> and [[Marjory Stephenson]], in her first research job.<ref name=Nature_Stephenson /> With Starling, Plimmer was involved in designing the new Institute of Physiology at University College (opened in 1909).<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /> At University College, Plimmer taught physiological chemistry from 1909, and was one of the earliest in Britain to teach advanced biochemistry.<ref name=Kohler_2011 />

During the First World War, he worked for the [[War Office]]'s Hygiene Directorate and the Army Medical Authorities, with the rank of Captain, performing chemical analysis of foods at the [[Royal Army Medical College]] in [[Millbank]], as well as at University College.<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /> These results, published in 1921, were the "first official British food composition tables"<ref name=Smith /> and, according to a contemporary review, were particularly useful in Britain because they analysed British foods.<ref name=Nature_Analysis /> His obituary in the ''[[British Medical Journal]]'' states that his work "directly contributed to the national survival".<ref name=BMJ_obit /> Plimmer moved to [[Aberdeen]] in October 1919, to continue this work; there he served as head of the department of biochemistry at the [[The Rowett Institute|Rowett Institute of Research in Animal Nutrition]].<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /><ref name=Smith /> He resigned after coming into conflict with the director, [[John Boyd Orr]], over the question of whether the institute should focus predominantly on [[mineral (nutrient)|mineral nutrients]].<ref name=Smith /> 

Returning to London, he held the chair of medical chemistry at [[St Thomas's Hospital Medical School]], University of London, between January 1922 and his retirement in December 1942, being appointed emeritus professor of chemistry in 1944.<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /><ref name=BMJ_obit /><ref name=Smith /> He continued to research despite a heavy teaching and administrative burden.<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=BiochemJ_obit /> After retirement from St Thomas's, he took up a post at the department of biochemistry of the [[Royal Postgraduate Medical School|British Postgraduate Medical School]], [[Hammersmith Hospital]], where he continued to lecture and to research in analytical clinical chemistry until shortly before his death.<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /><ref name=BMJ_obit /><ref name=Times_obit />

==Research==
Plimmer's major research interests fell into main two areas. The first strand, the chemistry of proteins, especially [[phosphoprotein]]s, as well as that of other phosphorus-containing biomolecules, originated from his work under Fischer, and continued throughout his career.<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /> His obituarist for ''[[The Times]]'' calls him a "leading authority" in this field.<ref name=Times_obit /> His 1906 paper on phosphorylation of [[casein]], co-authored with Bayliss, is among the early reports of phosphorylated proteins, following reports by [[Friedrich Miescher]] and others.<ref name=AnnRevPlantPhys_1976 /><ref name=AnnRev_Lipmann /> One of his highest-cited papers is a 1941 publication on the synthesis of phosphoric [[ester]] derivatives of [[amino acid]]s, one of his last studies before bombing interrupted his work in London.<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /> 

The second strand, [[nutrition]] in humans and animals, originated in his work during the First World War. At Aberdeen he carried out animal-feeding experiments, particularly focusing on [[vitamin]]s and the nutritional qualities of different proteins.<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /><ref name=Times_obit /> He showed at Aberdeen that pigs fed cooked food developed physical deficits and could be cured by substituting raw food, hypothesising that destruction of what is now known as [[vitamin C]] during cooking was the cause. He also researched what ratios of vitamins were needed by intensively farmed chickens.<ref name=Smith /> He continued this work at St Thomas's, raising poultry on the department roof.<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /> For example, with his colleagues John Lewis Rosedale and William Henry Raymond, he researched [[vitamin B]] requirements in chicks, ducks, pigeons and rats, before it was proved that there was more than one B vitamin,<ref name=Nature_VitB /> and later, in studies using pigeons, chickens and rats with Rosedale, Raymond and John Lowndes, he quantified total vitamin B in cereals, pulses and nuts, and showed that fruit and vegetables are deficient in vitamin B<sub>1</sub>.<ref name=AnnRev_1932 /><ref name=Science_1928 /><ref name=Nature_1931 />

==Writing, public education and the Biochemical Society==
With [[Frederick Gowland Hopkins]], he co-edited the series ''Monographs in Biochemistry'' (from 1908), for which Plimmer wrote ''The Chemical Constitution of the Proteins'',<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /><ref name=BMJ_obit /> described as a "veritable godsend" in a contemporary review in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]''.<ref name=Nature_CCP /> His other books include the textbook, ''Organic and Bio-Chemistry'',<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /><ref name=BMJ_obit /> described by [[Arthur Harden]] as "extremely valuable" for a broader audience than just the intended medical students.<ref name=Nature_PractOB_1916 /> 

Plimmer helped to educate people about vitamins, which were then not well known to the general public.<ref name=BMJ_obit /> He is described, together with V. H. Mottram, as one of the "most energetic popularizers of nutrition" in the interwar period.<ref name=Vernon /> With his wife [[Violet Plimmer|Violet]] he wrote ''Vitamins and the Choice of Food'' (1922); they later adapted this for a popular audience as ''Food, Health, Vitamins'' (1925), which ran to nine editions.<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /><ref name=BMJ_obit /><ref name=Times_obit /> A glowing review of the fifth edition in ''Nature'' proclaims that its "square meal" chart "should be hung up over every housekeeper's desk".<ref name=Nature_FHV /> The couple co-wrote several other popular books on this topic,<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /> and Violet Plimmer later authored two books alone.<ref name=Nature_VG_Plimmer /> Plimmer campaigned for [[wholemeal flour]],<ref name=Zweiniger /> contributed articles on nutrition to magazines, and gave many public lectures including a [[Royal Institution]] lecture in 1921 entitled "Quality of Protein in Nutrition".<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /><ref name=Times_RI /> During the Second World War, with [[rationing in the United Kingdom|food rationing]], he was active in educating the British public on diet and food quality as a council member of the Food Education Society; in 1943, he gave a lecture entitled "Food Facts And Fallacies", reported in ''[[The Times]]'', which recommended consumption of cheese, tomatoes, and dehydrated milk and vegetables, suggested daily energy requirements of 2200–3000&nbsp;[[calories]], and counselled families to prioritise growing children rather than adults when apportioning rationed food.<ref name=Times_1943 />

Plimmer was instrumental in the founding of the [[Biochemical Society]] in 1911; he served as both the first honorary treasurer (1911–12) and secretary (1911–19),<ref name=BMJ_obit /><ref name=Times_obit /> and was twice the chair (1922–23 and 1939–40).<ref name=Lagnado /> The biochemist John Lowndes, in his obituary for the society's journal, comments that the majority of the body's work in the early years became Plimmer's responsibility, and "his patience, perseverance and tact" were key to the society not failing.<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /> As their first historian, he also wrote a history of the society's early years, ''The History of the Biochemical Society 1911–1949'',<ref name=BMJ_obit /> described in a contemporary review for ''Nature'' as "pithy" and a "model of its kind".<ref name=Nature_HistBS /> The science historian [[Robert E. Kohler]] characterises the book as an "important" source for the early history of biochemistry in the UK.<ref name=Kohler /> The society elected Plimmer an honorary member in 1943.<ref name=BMJ_obit />

==Personal life==
In 1912, Plimmer married [[Violet Plimmer|Violet Geraldine]] (''née'' Sheffield; died 1949), a biologist, artist and illustrator whose father was a solicitor; they had three daughters and a son.<ref name=ODNB /><ref name=BiochemJ_obit /> His interests included motoring – he held one of the first driving licences, and enjoyed touring in Europe – as well as attending concerts and festivals of classical music.<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /><ref name=BMJ_obit />

He died at [[Hammersmith Hospital]] on 18 June 1955.<ref name=ODNB /> His memorial service took place at Hammersmith Hospital's chapel, with a tribute being given by [[Charles Edward Newman|Charles Newman]], Dean of the [[Royal Postgraduate Medical School|Postgraduate Medical School]].<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /><ref name=Times_mem /> A collection of his papers was held at St Thomas's Hospital.<ref name=Thomas /> 

==Selected publications==
Source:<ref name=Wellcome />
;Sole-authored books
*''The Chemical Changes and Products Resulting from Fermentations'' (Longmans, Green and Co.; 1903)<ref name=BiochemJ_obit />
*Translation of [[Gustav von Bunge]]'s ''Text-book of Organic Chemistry for Medical Students'' (Longmans, Green and Co.; 1907)<ref name=BiochemJ_obit /><ref name=Nature_Bunge />
*''[https://wellcomecollection.org/works/h2vvmxyc/items The Chemical Constitution of the Proteins]'' (two volumes; ''Monographs in Biochemistry'' series; Longmans, Green and Co.; 1908, 1913)<ref name=Nature_CCP />
*''Organic and Bio-Chemistry'' (originally entitled ''Practical Physiological Chemistry'' and later ''Practical Organic and Bio-chemistry''; Longmans, Green and Co., six editions in 1910–38)<ref name=Nature_PractOB_1916 /><ref name=Nature_PractOB />
*''Analyses and Energy Values of Foods'' (H. M. Stationery Office; 1921)
*''[https://www.biochemistry.org/media/vx3clfbp/book3history-of-biochemsoc-1911-1949-by-rha-plimmer.pdf The History of the Biochemical Society 1911–1949]'' (Cambridge University Press; 1949)

;Books and pamphlets with Violet G. Plimmer
*''Vitamins and the Choice of Food'' (Longmans, Green and Co.; 1922)<ref name=Nature_VitChoice /><ref name=BMJ_VCF />
*"Vitamins – What We Should Eat and Why?" (People's Health League; 1925), pamphlet<ref name=Smith />
*''Food, Health, Vitamins'' (originally ''Food and Health'') (Longmans, Green and Co.; nine editions in 1925–42)<ref name=Nature_FHV />

;Review article
*R. H. Aders Plimmer (1907). The work of Emil Fischer and his school on the chemistry of the proteins. ''Science Progress in the Twentieth Century'' 2 (5): 88–120 <small>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015035423261&view=1up&seq=106 link]</small><ref name=BiochemJ_obit />

;Research papers
*R. H. A. Plimmer (1941). Esters of phosphoric acid: Phosphoryl hydroxyamino-acids. ''[[Biochemical Journal]]'' 35 (4): 461–69 <small>{{doi|10.1042/bj0350461}} {{PMC|1265516}}</small> <!--127 citations in Google Scholar-->
*Robert Henry Aders Plimmer, John Lewis Rosedale, William Henry Raymond, John Lowndes (1927). Experiments on Nutrition. VIII: Comparative Vitamin B Value of Foodstuffs. Cereals. I. ''[[Biochemical Journal]]''  21 (5): 1141–61  <small>{{doi|10.1042/bj0211141}}</small> <!--research described in Nature and Science-->
*R. H. A. Plimmer, [[W. M. Bayliss]] (1906). The separation of phosphorus from caseinogen by the action of enzymes and alkali. ''[[Journal of Physiology]]'' 33 (6): 439–61 <small>{{doi|10.1113/jphysiol.1906.sp001130}} {{PMC|1465763}}</small> <!--66 citations in Google Scholar-->
*R. H. Aders Plimmer (1906). On the presence of lactase in the intestines of animals and on the adaptation of the intestine to lactose. ''[[Journal of Physiology]]'' 35 (1–2): 20–31 <small>{{doi|10.1113/jphysiol.1906.sp001178}} {{PMC|1465817}}</small> <!--91 citations in Google Scholar-->

==References and notes==
{{noteslist}}
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=AnnRev_1932>Leslie J. Harris (1932). Vitamins. ''[[Annual Review of Biochemistry]]'' 1: 337–412 {{doi|10.1146/annurev.bi.01.070132.002005}}</ref>

<ref name=AnnRev_Lipmann>[[Fritz Lipmann]] (1984). A long life in times of great upheaval. ''[[Annual Review of Biochemistry]]'' 53: 1–34 {{doi|10.1146/annurev.bi.53.070184.000245}}</ref>

<ref name=AnnRevPlantPhys_1976>[[Anthony Trewavas]] (1976). Post-Translational Modification of Proteins by Phosphorylation. ''[[Annual Review of Plant Biology]]'' 27: 349–74 {{doi|10.1146/annurev.pp.27.060176.002025}}</ref>

<ref name=Blaschko>H. Blaschko (1983). Frederick Hughes Scott and His Contribution to the Early History of the Transmitter Concept. ''[[Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London]]'' 37 (2): 235–247 {{jstor|531489}}</ref>

<ref name=BiochemJ_obit>John Lowndes (1956). Robert Henry Aders Plimmer, 1877–1955. ''[[Biochemical Journal]]'' 62 (3): 353–57 {{doi|10.1042/bj0620353b}}</ref>

<ref name=BMJ_obit>Obituary: R. H. A. Plimmer, D.Sc. ''[[The British Medical Journal]]'' 2 (4930): 62 (1955) {{jstor|20364187}}</ref>

<ref name=BMJ_VCF>A Handbook On Vitamins. ''[[The British Medical Journal]]'' 1 (3207): 955 (1922) {{jstor|20420286}}</ref>

<ref name=Kohler>[[Robert E. Kohler]] (1975). The History of Biochemistry: A Survey. ''[[Journal of the History of Biology]]'' 8 (2): 275–318 {{jstor|4330637}}</ref>

<ref name=Kohler_2011>[[Robert E. Kohler]]. Physiology and British biochemists, 1890–1920. In: ''From Medical Chemistry to Biochemistry: The Making of a Biomedical Discipline'', pp. 44, 66–67 (Cambridge University Press; 2011 [1982]) {{isbn|9780511897313}} {{doi|10.1017/CBO9780511897313}}</ref>

<ref name=Lagnado>John Lagnado. Introduction. In: ''[https://www.biochemistry.org/media/am1hkfzc/book1biochemical-society-the-last-25-years-edited-by-john-lagnado.pdf Biochemical Society: The Last 25 Years]'' (John Lagnado, ed.),  p. 1 (Portland Press; 2011)</ref>

<ref name=ODNB>John Lowndes (2009 [2004]). Plimmer, Robert Henry Aders (1877–1955). ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' (Oxford University Press) {{doi|10.1093/ref:odnb/35543}}</ref>

<ref name=Nature_1931>Vitamin B. Distribution and Physiology. ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' 127: 204–5 (1931) {{doi|10.1038/127204a0}}</ref>

<ref name=Nature_Analysis>Review: ''Analyses and Energy Values of Foods''. ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' 109: 608 (1922) {{doi|10.1038/109608d0}}</ref>

<ref name=Nature_Bunge>J. B. C. (1907). Review: ''Text-book of Organic Chemistry for Medical Students''. ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' 77: 146–47 {{doi|10.1038/077146a0}}</ref>

<ref name=Nature_CCP>W. D. H. (1913). Review: (1) ''Human Physiology'' (2) ''Le Problème Physiologique du Sommeil'' (3) ''The Chemical Constitution of the Proteins''. ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' 91: 238–39 {{doi|10.1038/091238a0}}</ref>

<ref name=Nature_FHV>E. F. A. (1933). A Square Meal. Review: ''Food, Health, Vitamins''. ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' 132: 498–99 {{doi|10.1038/132498b0}}</ref>

<ref name=Nature_HistBS>News and Views: History of the Biochemical Society. ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' 165: 589 (1950) {{doi|10.1038/165589c0}}</ref>

<ref name=Nature_PractOB>[[Arthur Harden]] (1918). Review: ''Practical Organic and Bio-chemistry''. ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' 101: 364 {{doi|10.1038/101364b0}}</ref>

<ref name=Nature_PractOB_1916>[[Arthur Harden]] (1916). Review: ''Practical Organic and Bio-chemistry''. ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' 96: 532–33 {{doi|10.1038/096532a0}}</ref>

<ref name=Nature_Stephenson>[[Dorothy M. Needham]] (1949). Dr. Marjory Stephenson, M.B.E., F.R.S. ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' 163: 201–2 {{doi|10.1038/163201a0}}</ref>

<ref name=Nature_VG_Plimmer>Katharine H. Coward (1949). Mrs. R. H. A. Plimmer. ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' 164: 265–66 {{doi|10.1038/164265a0}}</ref>

<ref name=Nature_VitB>Vitamin B. ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' 121: 516–18 (1928) {{doi|10.1038/121516a0}}</ref>

<ref name=Nature_VitChoice>Modern Dietetics. Review: ''Vitamins and the Choice of Food''. ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' 110: 336–37 (1922) {{doi|10.1038/110336a0}}</ref>

<ref name=Science_1928>Science News: Loss of appetite and vitamin B. ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' 67 (1725): xii, xiv (1928) {{jstor|1653591}}</ref>

<ref name=Smith>David Smith (1999). The Use of "Team Work" in the Practical Management of Research in the Inter-War Period: John Boyd Orr at the Rowett Research Institute. ''[[Minerva (Springer journal)|Minerva]]'' 37 (3): 259–80 {{jstor|41821148}}</ref>

<ref name=Thomas>J. Hywel Thomas (1988). The 'R. H. A. Plimmer Collection' at St Thomas's Hospital. ''[[Biochemical Society Transactions]]'' 16 (4): 601–2 {{doi|10.1042/bst0160601}}</ref>

<ref name=Times_1943>Food Facts And Fallacies: No harm done by dehydration. ''[[The Times]]'' (49650), p. 2 (14 September 1943)</ref>

<ref name=Times_HGPlimmer>Death Of Professor Plimmer. ''[[The Times]]'' (41824), p. 5 (24 June 1918); Deaths. ''[[The Times]]'' (45715), p. 8 (8 January 1931)</ref>

<ref name=Times_mem>Memorial Service: Professor R. H. A. Plimmer. ''[[The Times]]'' (53255), p. 12 (24 June 1955)</ref>

<ref name=Times_obit>Professor R. H. A. Plimmer: Leading authority on biochemistry. ''[[The Times]]'' (53252), p. 13 (21 June 1955)</ref>

<ref name=Times_RI>Royal Institution Lectures. ''[[The Times]]'' (42679), p. 6 (28 March 1921)</ref>

<ref name=Vernon>James Vernon. You Are What You Eat: Educating the Citizen as Consumer. In: ''Hunger: A Modern History'', pp. 211–14 (Harvard University Press; 2007) {{doi|10.4159/9780674044678-007}}</ref>

<ref name=Wellcome>[https://wellcomecollection.org/concepts/eb3gndx5 Plimmer, Robert Henry Aders, 1877–1955], Wellcome Collection (accessed 29 November 2024)</ref>

<ref name=Zweiniger>[[Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska]]. "Not a Complete Food for Man": The Controversy about
White versus Wholemeal Bread in Interwar Britain. In: ''Setting Nutritional Standards: Theory, Policies, Practices'' (Ulrike Thoms et al., eds), pp. 142, 151 (University of Rochester Press; 2017) [[Project Muse]]: [https://muse.jhu.edu/book/83673 83673]</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
*W. J. O'Connor. ''British Physiologists, 1885–1914'' (1991)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plimmer, R. H. A.}}
[[Category:1877 births]]
[[Category:1955 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Elberfeld]]
[[Category:People from Surrey]]
[[Category:People educated at Dulwich College]]
[[Category:Alumni of University College London]]
[[Category:Humboldt University of Berlin alumni]]
[[Category:University of Geneva alumni]]
[[Category:Academics of University College London]]
[[Category:British chemists]]
[[Category:British biochemists]]
[[Category:British science writers]]
[[Category:British food writers]]
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