# Ernest Lyman Scott

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American physiologist and researcher

Ernest Lyman Scott Born (1877-08-18)August 18, 1877[1] Kinsman, Ohio Died January 19, 1966(1966-01-19) (aged 88) Bogota, New Jersey Scientific career Fields Physiology Institutions Columbia University Thesis The content of sugar in the blood under common laboratory conditions (1914) Doctoral students Albert Baird Hastings

**Ernest Lyman Scott** (August 18, 1877–January 19, 1966)[2] was an American [physiologist](/source/Physiologist) and [diabetes](/source/Diabetes) researcher who spent much of his career on the faculty at [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University). Scott's early work contributed to the modern understanding of the biology of [insulin](/source/Insulin) and its use in [diabetes management](/source/Diabetes_management), though the exact role and significance of his research in this context has been a subject of controversy.[3][4] Later, Scott developed a standard blood test for diabetes. After retiring from Columbia in 1942, Scott went on to become a noted [horticulturist](/source/Horticulturist).[5][6]

## Education and academic career

Scott was born in [Kinsman, Ohio](/source/Kinsman%2C_Ohio).[1] He attended [Ohio Wesleyan University](/source/Ohio_Wesleyan_University) as an undergraduate and received his B.S. in 1902. He received his M.S. from the [University of Chicago](/source/University_of_Chicago) in 1911, working with [Anton Carlson](/source/Anton_Carlson), and left Chicago to begin his faculty career with a brief period teaching at the [University of Kansas](/source/University_of_Kansas). In 1912 he moved to a teaching position at [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University). He received his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1914 and remained on the faculty until his retirement in 1942, briefly interrupted by [World War I](/source/World_War_I) service with the [American Expeditionary Force](/source/American_Expeditionary_Force) in France.[5] His tenure at Columbia included the development of blood tests for [blood glucose](/source/Blood_glucose) and characterization of standards for identifying diabetes by blood test.[7] Among his notable graduate students is physiologist [Albert Baird Hastings](/source/Albert_Baird_Hastings).[8]

## Role in the discovery of insulin

Scott's work with Carlson at the University of Chicago subsequently became a subject of controversy over the [scientific priority](/source/Scientific_priority) of significant discoveries about insulin and diabetes, which earned [Frederick Banting](/source/Frederick_Banting) and [John Macleod](/source/John_Macleod_(physiologist)) the [Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine](/source/Nobel_Prize_in_Physiology_or_Medicine) in 1923.[9] Although Scott was only a master's student, he worked relatively independently in the Carlson laboratory, using [dogs](/source/Dog) with surgically disrupted [pancreas](/source/Pancreas) as [animal models](/source/Animal_model) to measure his efforts to isolate a hypothesized anti-diabetic "active principle" found in pancreatic secretions. Evidence from his 1911 master's thesis suggests that he did successfully isolate a [protein](/source/Protein) with observable clinical benefits in his experimental diabetic dogs, which by his description must have been [insulin](/source/Insulin).[3][4] However, Scott's thesis was not published in its original form until much later, in 1966.[10] Instead, while departing for his new position in Kansas, Scott left his thesis with Carlson, who published a version in Scott's name in 1912 in the *[American Journal of Physiology](/source/American_Journal_of_Physiology)*.[11]

In their subsequent work on insulin and diabetes, [Frederick Banting](/source/Frederick_Banting) and [Charles Best](/source/Charles_Best_(medical_scientist)) expanded upon the themes in Scott's work and cited the 1912 paper.[3][4] However, later controversy arose regarding Carlson's edits to Scott's thesis to produce the paper, which included a summary and conclusion paragraph described as "cautious" and insufficient to establish his priority in isolating insulin; in fact, writing in 1964, Scott himself denied authorship of the 1912 paper.[4] The award of the 1923 Nobel to Banting and Macleod attracted dispute from a variety of sources, with Banting himself objecting to Macleod's inclusion and ultimately sharing his award money with his research associate [Charles Best](/source/Charles_Best_(medical_scientist)); Macleod sharing his with another member of the team, [James Collip](/source/James_Collip); and other researchers in the field, including Scott,[12] contending that their role in the discovery had been overlooked and earlier work undercited.[9][13] Scott's wife self-published a book on the subject years later called *Great Scott: Ernest Lyman Scott's work with insulin in 1911*.[14]

## Personal life

Scott's wife Aleita Hopping Scott also held a Ph.D. in physiology and shared his interest in plants and gardening. After Ernest Scott's retirement from Columbia, the couple established a reputation as [horticulturists](/source/Horticulturist), extensively documenting their garden at their home in New Jersey. Ernest Scott served as the founding president of the National [Chrysanthemum](/source/Chrysanthemum) Society of America and Aleita co-founded the American [Primrose](/source/Primula) Society.[6] The couple coauthored a book on chrysanthemums.[15]

Ernest Scott died in 1966. His papers are held by the [National Library of Medicine](/source/National_Library_of_Medicine) and the [New York Botanical Garden](/source/New_York_Botanical_Garden).[5][6]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-diss._1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-diss._1-1) Scott, Ernest Lyman (1914). [*The content of sugar in the blood under common laboratory conditions*](https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nnc2.ark:/13960/t15m6wv3h) (PhD). Columbia University. [hdl](/source/Hdl_(identifier)):[2027/nnc2.ark:/13960/t15m6wv3h](https://hdl.handle.net/2027%2Fnnc2.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft15m6wv3h). Retrieved April 4, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["DR. ERNEST SCOTT, A PHYSIOLOGIST, 88; Ex-Columbia Teacher Who Turned to Horticulture Dies"](https://www.nytimes.com/1966/01/20/archives/dr-ernest-scott-a-physiologist-88-excolumbia-teacher-who-turned-to.html). *The New York Times*. January 20, 1966. Retrieved April 4, 2023.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-stylianou_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-stylianou_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-stylianou_3-2) Stylianou, C.; Kelnar, C. (15 July 2009). ["The introduction of successful treatment of diabetes mellitus with insulin"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2711201). *Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine*. **102** (7): 298–303. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1258/jrsm.2009.09k035](https://doi.org/10.1258%2Fjrsm.2009.09k035). [PMC](/source/PMC_(identifier)) [2711201](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2711201). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [19605862](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19605862).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-magner_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-magner_4-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-magner_4-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-magner_4-3) Magner, LN (1977). "Ernest Lyman Scott's work with insulin, a reappraisal". *Pharmacy in History*. **19** (3): 103–8. [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [41109047](https://www.jstor.org/stable/41109047). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [11615662](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11615662).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-nlm_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-nlm_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-nlm_5-2) ["Ernest Lyman Scott Papers: Biographical Note"](https://web.archive.org/web/20170316204310/https://oculus.nlm.nih.gov/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=nlmfindaid;cc=nlmfindaid;view=text;rgn=main;didno=scott165). *National Library of Medicine*. Archived from [the original](https://oculus.nlm.nih.gov/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=nlmfindaid;cc=nlmfindaid;view=text;rgn=main;didno=scott165) on March 16, 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-nybg_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-nybg_6-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-nybg_6-2) ["Ernest L. Scott Papers"](http://www.nybg.org/library/finding_guide/archv/scott_ppb.html). *New York Botanical Garden*. Retrieved 16 March 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-scott_ajp_1914_7-0)** Scott, Ernest Lyman (1 June 1914). ["The Content of Sugar in the Blood Under Common Laboratory Conditions"](http://ajplegacy.physiology.org/content/34/3/271). *American Journal of Physiology*. **34** (3): 271–311. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1152/ajplegacy.1914.34.3.271](https://doi.org/10.1152%2Fajplegacy.1914.34.3.271). [hdl](/source/Hdl_(identifier)):[2027/nnc2.ark:/13960/t15m6wv3h](https://hdl.handle.net/2027%2Fnnc2.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft15m6wv3h). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [99454784](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:99454784).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-nas_8-0)** Christensen, Halvor N. (1994). ["Albert Baird Hastings"](https://www.nap.edu/read/4560/chapter/11). *National Academies Biographical Memoirs*. **63**: 172.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-nobel_9-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-nobel_9-1) ["The Discovery of Insulin"](https://www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/insulin/discovery-insulin.html). *Nobelprize.org*. Retrieved 16 March 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-richards_10-0)** Richards, DW (1966). "The effect of pancreas extract on depancreatized dogs. Ernest L. Scott's thesis of 1911". *Perspectives in Biology and Medicine*. **10** (1): 84–95. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1353/pbm.1966.0026](https://doi.org/10.1353%2Fpbm.1966.0026). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [6002670](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6002670). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [10546542](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:10546542).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-scott_ajp_1912_11-0)** Scott, Ernest Lyman (1 January 1912). ["On the Influence of Intravenous Injections of an Extract of the Pancreas on Experimental Pancreatic Diabetes"](http://ajplegacy.physiology.org/content/29/3/306.long). *American Journal of Physiology*. **29** (3): 306–310. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1152/ajplegacy.1912.29.3.306](https://doi.org/10.1152%2Fajplegacy.1912.29.3.306). Retrieved 16 March 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-scott_1923_12-0)** Scott, Ernest L. (13 October 1923). "Priority in Discovery of a Substance Derived from the Pancreas, Active in Carbohydrate Metabolism". *JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association*. **81** (15): 1303. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1001/jama.1923.02650150057030](https://doi.org/10.1001%2Fjama.1923.02650150057030).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-rosenfeld_13-0)** Rosenfeld, L (December 2002). ["Insulin: discovery and controversy"](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fclinchem%2F48.12.2270). *Clinical Chemistry*. **48** (12): 2270–88. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/clinchem/48.12.2270](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fclinchem%2F48.12.2270). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [12446492](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12446492).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-greatscott_14-0)** Scott, Aleita Hopping (1972). *Great Scott: Ernest Lyman Scott's work with insulin in 1911*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Scott, Ernest Lyman; Scott, Aleita Hopping (March 2012). *Chrysanthemums for Pleasure*. Literary Licensing, LLC. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1258241520](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1258241520).

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