Trikojus: A Scientist for Interesting Times

Humphreys (emeritus agricultural science, U. of Queensland) offers a biography of Australian organic chemist Victor Martin Trikojus (1902- 85), arguing that his time in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s convinced him that science must make a practical contribution to society, and that Australia must be positioned to make key synthetic drugs that were then supplied by the German chemical industry, most especially those drugs that saved lives of soldiers, who died more often from infection than from wounds. Annotation © 2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Ross Humphreys is a professor emeritus and honorary research consultant in agricultural science at the University of Queensland. He is the author of Allan Callaghan: A Life, The Evolving Science of Grassland Improvement, and Tropical Pasture Utilisation.