Arthur Harden
A meticulous researcher who unlocked the hidden mechanics of sugar fermentation, laying groundwork for modern biochemistry and earning a Nobel Prize.
1865–1940 (age 75)·British biochemist·Birthday: October 12·The Gilded Age
Biography
Arthur Harden approached the frothy mystery of fermentation with the precision of a chemist, determined to find the tangible agents behind a biological process. Working at the British Institute of Preventive Medicine (later the Lister Institute), he moved beyond Pasteur's vitalistic view, demonstrating that yeast juice could ferment sugar even without living cells. His crucial discovery was that this process required a dialyzable component (coenzymes) and a non-dialyzable one (enzymes), a fundamental separation that revealed the complex teamwork within biochemistry. A patient and thorough experimentalist, Harden spent years meticulously detailing the steps of alcoholic fermentation. His work provided a chemical roadmap for metabolism that influenced generations of scientists. Beyond the lab, he was a founding pillar of the Biochemical Society, nurturing the discipline through its formative years as a longtime editor of its key journal.
The Gilded Age
1860–1882
Born during or after the Civil War, they built industrial America — the railroads, the steel mills, the first skyscrapers. An era of massive wealth, massive inequality, and the belief that the future belonged to whoever could build it fastest.
Arthur was born in 1865, placing them squarely in The Gilded Age. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Arthur Was Born
The biggest hits of 1865
Arthur's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1865Born
President: Andrew Johnson
1870Started school
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1878Became a teenager
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1881Could drive
President: Chester A. Arthur
1883Could vote
President: Chester A. Arthur
1886Turned 21
Statue of Liberty dedicated in New York Harbor
President: Grover Cleveland
1895Turned 30
First public film screening by the Lumiere brothers
President: Grover Cleveland
1905Turned 40
Einstein publishes the theory of special relativity
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1915Turned 50
The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
President: Woodrow Wilson
1925Turned 60
The Scopes Trial debates evolution in schools
Home: $4,366President: Calvin Coolidge"Sweet Georgia Brown" — Ben Bernie
1935Turned 70
Social Security Act signed into law
Gas: $0.19/galHome: $3,450President: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Cheek to Cheek" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: Mutiny on the Bounty
1940Died at 75
The Blitz: Germany bombs London
Gas: $0.18/galHome: $2,938Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I'll Never Smile Again" — Tommy DorseyBest Picture: Rebecca
Key Achievements
- Awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1929 for research on the fermentation of sugar and enzymes.
- Co-discovered NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), a crucial coenzyme in cellular metabolism.
- Served as the first editor of the Biochemical Journal for 25 years, shaping the field's academic discourse.
- Was a founding member of the Biochemical Society in 1911.
Did You Know?
He initially studied chemistry under Henry Roscoe at Owens College, Manchester.
During World War I, Harden applied his fermentation expertise to help solve a national shortage of acetone, a key component for explosives.
He was knighted in 1936 for his services to science.
Harden never married and was known to be entirely devoted to his scientific work.
“Fermentation is not a mystery of life, but a series of chemical reactions.”
