Stephen Moulton BabcockBorn 22 Oct 1843; died 2 Jul 1931 at age 87.American agricultural chemist, often called the father of scientific dairying, chiefly because of his development of the Babcock test (1890), a simple method of measuring the butterfat content of milk. It consists in liberating the fat globules by dissolving the casein in a strong acid and then separating the fat by means of a centrifuge. The test discouraged milk adulteration and provided for the first time an adequate standard by which fair payment for milk could be determined, stimulated improvement of dairy production, and aided in factory manufacture of cheese and butter. He worked for 43 years at the University of Wisconsin, where he established a laboratory where he carried out pioneering research in nutrition and in the chemistry of vitamins. |
