{{Short description|British biochemist (1882–1947)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Alexander Thomas Cameron | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date text|1882}} | birth_place = London, England | death_date = {{death date and age|1947|09|02|1882}} | death_place = Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | field = Biochemistry | work_institution = University of Manitoba | alma_mater = University of Edinburgh | doctoral_advisor = <!--please insert--> | known_for = Professor of Biochemistry at University of Manitoba; author of ''Textbook of Biochemistry'' | religion = | footnotes = }}

'''Alexander Thomas Cameron''' (1882 &ndash; 25 September 1947) was a British-born Canadian biochemist. He was best known as Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Manitoba, and as the author of numerous popular biochemistry textbooks, including the ''Textbook of Biochemistry.''

==Biography== Alexander Thomas Cameron was born in 1882 in London, England, to Scottish parents.<ref name=BJ>White, F.D. & Collip J.B. (1948) "Obituary Notice: Alexander Thomas Cameron, 1882-1947," ''Biochemical Journal'', 43(1): 1–2</ref> His early education took place in Swindon.<ref name=BJ/> Cameron graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a Master of Arts in 1904, and a Bachelor of Science in 1906.<ref name=BJ/> His first published paper appeared in ''Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh'' in 1905, and concerned the crystallisation of potassium hydrogen succinate.<ref name=BJ/> In 1907 he was awarded the Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize in Chemistry <ref name=Archive>Handwritten essay available at the [https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/19464 Edinburgh Research Archive].</ref>

Cameron was awarded an 1851 Exhibition Scholarship in 1906,<ref name=BJ/><ref name=BMJ>B.M. (1947) "Alexander Thomas Cameron," ''The British Medical Journal'', Vol. 2, No. 4529 (Oct. 25, 1947), p. 673</ref> and spent the next two years studying radiochemistry at University College, London, under Sir William Ramsay.<ref name=BJ/><ref name=BMJ/> He subsequently spent a year at the Technical High School<ref name=BJ/> (or Polytechnic Institute<ref name=BMJ/>) in Karlsruhe, Germany, under Fritz Haber.<ref name=BJ/>

In 1909, Cameron was appointed lecturer in physiology at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.<ref name=BJ/><ref name=BMJ/> Working under Professor Swale Vincent,<ref name=BJ/><ref name=BMJ/> Cameron fostered an interest in endocrinology, researching the distribution of iodine in living tissues.<ref name=BJ/> In 1923, the department of physiology was branched to include a separate biochemistry department, for which Cameron was appointed professor.<ref name=BJ/>

Apart from a summer semester spent at the University of Heidelberg, under Albrecht Kossel, and three years as captain, R.A.M.C., with the British Expeditionary Force in France during World War I, Cameron spent the remainder of his career at the University of Manitoba.<ref name=BJ/> His publications on the biochemistry of iodine earned him a D.Sc. from the University of Edinburgh in 1925.<ref name=BJ/><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cameron|first=A. T.|date=1925|title=Contributions to the biochemistry of iodine and the thyroid and related problems|url=https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/29044|language=en}}</ref>

In 1928, Cameron published ''Textbook of Biochemistry,'' which became a standard in its field. By 1948, the textbook had gone through six editions, in addition to one Chinese and two Spanish editions.<ref name=BJ/> His other widely used textbooks included ''Practical Biochemistry'' (1930, with Frank D. White),<ref name=BMJ/> ''Biochemistry of Medicine'' (1933, with C.R. Gilmour),<ref name=BMJ/> and ''Recent Advances in Endocrinology'' (1933).<ref name=BMJ/>

In addition to his academic duties, Cameron also served as chairman of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada from 1934 to 1947,<ref name=Biography>[http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/alexander-thomas-cameron/ "Cameron, Alexander Thomas"], David B. Smith, ''The Canadian Encyclopedia.'' Accessed on 14 January 2011.</ref> a role for which he was awarded a C.M.G. in 1946.<ref name=BJ/><ref name=BMJ/> At various stages of his career, he was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the president of the Canadian Institute of Chemistry, an original member of the Biochemical Society, and secretary for the Scientific Club of Winnipeg.<ref name=BJ/>

Following a long illness, Alexander Thomas Cameron died on September 25, 1947, either at his residence in Winnipeg<ref name=BJ/> or at Winnipeg General Hospital.<ref name=BMJ/> He was survived by his wife, his son Alistair, and his daughter Janet.

==Personal life== As its secretary, Cameron dedicated much of his time to the Scientific Club of Winnipeg. Cameron was a fluent reader of English, French, and German, and enjoyed reading literature.<ref name=MAJ>"Obituaries," ''Canada M.A.J.,'' Vol 57 (Nov., 1947), p504</ref> His favourite hobby was stamp collecting, a pursuit which "gave limitless scope for his methodical ways and zest for minutiae."<ref name=MAJ/>

==See also== * Biochemical Society

==References== {{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Alex}} Category:1882 births Category:1947 deaths Category:British chemists Category:20th-century British biologists Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Category:Academic staff of the University of Manitoba Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Category:20th-century British biochemists Category:British emigrants to Canada Category:20th-century Canadian biologists