Jan Ingenhousz remembered with Google Doodle on 287th birthday – when did the Dutchman discover photosynthesis?
The Dutchman's groundbreaking discovery changed the study of plants and is familiar to us all from school science lessons
JAN Ingenhousz had an astonishing career which took him from quiet English villages to the royal court in Austria – and he made a scientific discovery which still forms an essential part of every child's education.
A Google Doodle is marking the 287th birthday of the Dutchman whose work on photosynthesis changed the study of plants and biology. Here's her fascinating story...
Who was Jan Ingenhousz and what did he discover about photosynthesis?
Jan Ingenhouz was born in Breda, the Netherlands, on December 8, 1730.
He began studying medicine at the age of 16 at the University of Leuven, developing an interest in inoculation.
This led him to England, where in 1767 he immunised 700 people at risk of smallpox in a Hertfordshire village.
News of his success in combatting the lethal infection spread across Europe to the court of the Austrian Empress, Maria Theresa.
After she was told of his prowess by famed physician John Pringle, the Empress enlisted the Ingenhouz to inoculate the Habsburg royal family.
He ended up staying in Austria as the royal doctor, and married Agatha Maria Jacquin in Vienna in 1775.
Despite his successes in the field of medicine, it was for his discovery of photosynthesis that the Dutchman is most famous.
He became interested in the gaseous exchange of plants in the 1770s after meeting Joseph Priestley, the scientist credited with discovering oxygen.
While it was already known that plants produced and absorbed gases, Ingenhousz was the first to discover that they produced oxygen in sunlight, and carbon dioxide in darkness.
His ground-breaking findings were published in 1779, and lay the foundation for centuries of further research – and secondary school biology lessons – on the life of plants.
Ingenhousz died in London on September 7, 1799 at the age of 68 – his wife passed away the following year.
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What is a Google Doodle?
In 1998, the search engine founders Larry and Sergey drew a stick figure behind the second 'o' of Google as a message to that they were out of office at the Burning Man festival and with that, Google Doodles were born.
The company decided that they should decorate the logo to mark cultural moments and it soon became clear that users really enjoyed the change to the Google homepage.
In that same year, a turkey was added to Thanksgiving and two pumpkins appeared as the 'o's for Halloween the following year.
Now, there is a full team of doodlers, illustrators, graphic designers, animators and classically trained artists who help create what you see on those days.
Recently, a Google Doodle celebrated the 2017 Autumn Equinox, which marked the official ending of summer and the coming of autumn.