Philip Eggleton


Philip Eggleton FRSE was a British biochemist, physiologist, lecturer, and, co-discoverer of Phosphagens.

Life

Eggleton was born at Kingston-on-Thames on 19 March 1903. He attended the Tiffin School there before going to the University of London graduating BSc in 1922 and receiving his doctorate in 1930.
He then received a post at the University of Edinburgh rising to Reader in Biochemistry in the Physiology Department. He also acted as Scientific Advisor to BBC Scotland.
In 1927, in experiments on frog muscles in Cambridge, he discovered the release of a previously unknown substance which he labelled phosphagen. It was shown that the substance played a major role in muscular contraction.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1931. His proposers were Sir Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer, Alfred Joseph Clark, and Henry Dryerre.
During the Second World War he served in the Gas Identification Service.
Eggleton died on 7 October 1954, aged 51.

Family

He married Grace Palmer who worked with him. The two discovered phosphagens.

Publications