Pharmacy - the mother of invention?

An exhibition commemorating pharmacists who have made an impact outside the chemist's shop.

Who invented the electric light bulb? Who was Bird of Bird's Custard? Does Worcestershire sauce come from Worcestershire? The answers to these questions and more can be found in this online exhibition that celebrates pharmacists who have made an impact outside the chemist's shop. All of the products and inventions below were invented, developed or influenced by pharmacists

Click on a picture to find out more about the pharmacist behind its history

Why is it that so many pharmacists and chemists and druggists have been involved in so many walks of life? Is it that pharmacists are particularly entrepreneurial or have a special flair for investigation? Certainly, as scientists with an interest in areas such as chemistry or botany, the opportunity to take the subjects further than the dispensing counter are clear.

In 1903, Sir Joseph Swan described an "educated pharmacist as one of society's most useful and necessary members - an all-round man who can do a great many things and do them well."

Whatever the reason, what is clear is that there are many pharmacists who have become household names because of their inventions, and others who's inventions are household names, but the pharmacists behind them are rather more invisible.

References

As well as using resources from the museum's collections, these are the main books and journals we have used to research this exhibition. If you are interested in finding out more about any of the people or subjects covered in this exhibition, please contact us at the museum.

Lesley Matthews, Pharmacists in the Wider World (Merrell Pharmaceuticals Ltd: Hounslow, 1981)
Maurice Baren, How it all began (Smith Settle Ltd, Otley, 1992)
Maurice Baren, How Household Names began (Michael O'Mara Books Ltd: London, 1997)
The Pharmaceutical Journal
Chemist and Druggist
Chemistry and Industry
The Flavour Industry
The Indian and Eastern Druggist

Acknowledgments

This online exhibition was produced by the Museum of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain in March 2003 for National Science Week. Images courtesy of The Robert Opie Collection, the Museum of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, and others, credited as appropriate. For more information please contact the museum.