Robin_Hill_(biochemist)

Robin Hill (biochemist)
Robert Hill FRS[3] (2 April 1899 – 15 March 1991),

known as Robin Hill, was a British plant biochemist Robert Hill
FRS
who, in 1939, demonstrated the 'Hill reaction' of
photosynthesis, proving that oxygen is evolved during
the light requiring steps of photosynthesis.[5][6][7] He
also made significant contributions to the development
of the Z-scheme[8][9] of oxygenic
photosynthesis. [4][10][11][12][13][14][15]
Education and early life

Hill was born in New Milverton, a suburb of
Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. He was educated at
Bedales School, where he became interested in biology
and astronomy (he published a paper on sunspots in
1917), and Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he
Robert Hill FRS
read Natural Sciences. During the First World War he
served in the Anti-gas Department of the Royal Born Robert Hill
Engineers.[16] 2 April 1899[3]
Leamington Spa,
Warwickshire, United Kingdom
Career Died 15 March 1991 (aged 91)

Alma mater University of Cambridge
In 1922, he joined the Department of Biochemistry at Known for Hill reaction[4]
Cambridge, where he was directed to research
Hill reagent
haemoglobin. He published a number of papers on
haemoglobin, and in 1926 he began to work with Awards Royal Medal (1963)
David Keilin on the haem containing protein Copley Medal (1987)
cytochrome c. In 1932, he commenced work on plant
Scientific career
biochemistry, focusing on photosynthesis and the
oxygen evolution of chloroplasts, leading to the Fields Biochemistry
discovery of the 'Hill reaction'. Notable Frederick Whatley
students David Alan Walker
From 1943, Hill's work was funded by the Agricultural (postdoc)[1][2]
Research Council (ARC), although he continued to
work in the Cambridge Biochemistry Department. Hill continued to receive most of his recognition for
his earlier work on photosynthesis, and beginning in the late 1950s, his work concentrated on the
energetics of photosynthesis. In collaboration with Fay Bendall, he made his second great contribution to
photosynthesis research with the discovery of the 'Z scheme' of electron transport.
Hill retired from the ARC in 1966, although his research at Cambridge continued until his death in 1991.
In his later years Hill worked on the issue of the application of the second law of thermodynamics to
photosynthesis.
He was an expert on natural dyes and cultivated plants such as madder and woad. He painted
watercolours using pigments he himself extracted.[3] In the 1920s, he developed a fish-eye camera and
used it to take stereoscopic whole-sky images, recording cloud patterns in three dimensions.
Awards and honours

The Robert Hill Institute at the University of Sheffield, from which he received an honorary degree in
1990, was named after him.[17] Hill was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1946, his
certificate of election reads:
Distinguished for his research on Haemoglobin and Photosynthesis. He was the first to
demonstrate the reconstruction of haemoglobin from its components: globin and haematin. This
was the first case of the splitting and reconstruction of a conjugated protein. He determined the
properties and dissociation curve of myoglobin which explain the physiological function of the
pigment. He also determined the structure and properties of several haematin compounds
thereby aiding the study of their catalytic activities. He discovered a new approach to the
biochemical study of photosynthesis which enabled him to demonstrate and to measure the
evolution of oxygen by isolated chloroplasts exposed to light in the complete absence of CO2.
This remarkable photochemical reaction was found by him to have the same properties as "light
reaction" obtained with intact green cells in presence of CO2, and it led him to formulate an
interesting working hypothesis of the mechanism of photosynthesis.[18]
He was awarded the Royal Medal in 1963, and the Copley Medal in 1987.
References
1. Walker, D. A.; Hill, R (1967). "The relation of oxygen evolution to carbon assimilation with
isolated chloroplasts". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics. 131 (2): 330–8.
doi:10.1016/0005-2728(67)90146-6 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0005-2728%2867%299014
6-6). PMID 6049483 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6049483).
2. Walker, D. A. (1997). "Tell me where all past years are" (http://www.life.illinois.edu/govindjee/
history/WalkerPP.pdf) (PDF). Photosynthesis Research. 51: 3–4.
doi:10.1023/A:1005798803998 (https://doi.org/10.1023%2FA%3A1005798803998).
S2CID 10337431 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:10337431).
3. Bendall, D. S. (1994). "Robert Hill. 2 April 1899 – 15 March 1991". Biographical Memoirs of
Fellows of the Royal Society. 40: 142–170. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1994.0033 (https://doi.org/10.
1098%2Frsbm.1994.0033). ISSN 0080-4606 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0080-4606).
4. Walker, David Alan (2002). " 'And whose bright presence' – an appreciation of Robert Hill
and his reaction". Photosynthesis Research. 73 (1/3): 51–54.
doi:10.1023/A:1020479620680 (https://doi.org/10.1023%2FA%3A1020479620680).
ISSN 0166-8595 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0166-8595). PMID 16245102 (https://pub
med.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16245102). S2CID 21567780 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusI
D:21567780).
5. Hill, R. (1937). "Oxygen Evolved by Isolated Chloroplasts". Nature. 139 (3525): 881–882.
Bibcode:1937Natur.139..881H (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1937Natur.139..881H).
doi:10.1038/139881a0 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F139881a0). S2CID 4095025 (https://api.s
emanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4095025).
6. Hill, R.; Scarisbrick, R. (1940). "Production of Oxygen by Illuminated Chloroplasts". Nature.
146 (3689): 61–62. Bibcode:1940Natur.146...61H (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1940N
atur.146...61H). doi:10.1038/146061a0 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F146061a0).
7. Hill, R. (1939). "Oxygen Produced by Isolated Chloroplasts" (https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsp
b.1939.0017). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 127 (847): 192–
210. Bibcode:1939RSPSB.127..192H (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1939RSPSB.127..
192H). doi:10.1098/rspb.1939.0017 (https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frspb.1939.0017).
8. Walker, D. A. (2002). "The Z-scheme – down hill all the way". Trends in Plant Science. 7 (4):
183–185. Bibcode:2002TPS.....7..183W (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002TPS.....7..1
83W). doi:10.1016/S1360-1385(02)02242-2 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS1360-1385%280
2%2902242-2). PMID 11950615 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11950615).
9. Hill, R.; Bendall, F. (1960). "Function of the Two Cytochrome Components in Chloroplasts: A
Working Hypothesis". Nature. 186 (4719): 136–137. Bibcode:1960Natur.186..136H (https://u
i.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1960Natur.186..136H). doi:10.1038/186136a0 (https://doi.org/10.1
038%2F186136a0). S2CID 4225589 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4225589).
10. Mabberley, D. J. (2004). "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of
National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/49777 (http
s://doi.org/10.1093%2Fref%3Aodnb%2F49777). (Subscription or UK public library
membership (https://www.oxforddnb.com/help/subscribe#public) required.)
11. Hill, R.; Whittingham, C.P. (1953). Photosynthesis (https://books.google.com/books?id=7AN
KAAAAIAAJ). London: Methuen.
12. Archives Hub, Papers and correspondence of Robert (Robin) Hill, 1899-1991 (http://www.ar
chiveshub.ac.uk/news/0312hill.html)
13. Prince, R. C. (1992). "Robert Hill, FRS; his published work". Photosynthesis Research. 34
(3): 329–32. Bibcode:1992PhoRe..34..329P (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1992PhoR
e..34..329P). doi:10.1007/BF00029806 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF00029806).
PMID 24408827 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24408827). S2CID 20861602 (https://api.
semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:20861602).
14. Robin Hill's publications (https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.url?authorId=23057371900)
indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
15. Bendall, D.S. (1971). "[33] Cytochrome components in chloroplasts of the higher plants".
Photosynthesis and Nitrogen Part A. Methods in Enzymology. Vol. 23. pp. 327–344.
doi:10.1016/S0076-6879(71)23109-8 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0076-6879%2871%2923
109-8). ISBN 9780121818869.
16. Bendall, D. S. (1994). "Robert Hill, 2 April 1899 - 15 March 1991" (https://royalsocietypublish
ing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbm.1994.0033). Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal
Society. 40: 141–170. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1994.0033 (https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsbm.1994.
0033). S2CID 73043184 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:73043184).
17. "Sign in - Google Accounts" (http://robert-hill-institute.group.shef.ac.uk).
18. "EC/1946/12 Hill, Robert" (https://web.archive.org/web/20190708195305/https://collections.r
oyalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd
=show.tcl&dsqSearch=%28RefNo%3D%3D%27EC%2F1946%2F12%27%29). London: The
Royal Society. Archived from the original (http://royalsociety.org) on 8 July 2019.
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Robin Hill (biochemist)

Robert Hill FRS[3] (2 April 1899 – 15 March 1991),

Education and early life

Career Died 15 March 1991 (aged 91)

Awards and honours

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robin_Hill_(biochemist)&oldid=1261250701"

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