Robin Hill (biochemist)
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:''For other people names Robert Hill, see the disambiguation page [[Robert Hill]]. Robin Hill is also the name given to varieties of [[azalea]] bred by [[Robert Derby Gartrell]]''.
'''Robert Hill''' [[Royal Society|FRS]] ([[April 2]], [[1899]]–[[March 15]], [[1991]]), known as '''Robin Hill''', was a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[biochemistry|plant biochemist]] who, in 1939, demonstrated the '[[Hill reaction]]' of [[photosynthesis]], proving that [[oxygen]] is [[Oxygen evolution|evolved]] during the [[light-dependent reaction|light requiring steps]] of photosynthesis. He also made significant contributions to the development of the [[Z-scheme]] of oxygenic photosynthesis.
Hill was born in [[New Milverton]], a suburb of [[Leamington Spa]], [[Warwickshire]]. He was educated at [[Bedales School]], where he became interested in [[biology]] and [[astronomy]] (he published a paper on [[sunspot]]s in 1917), and [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge]], where he read [[natural sciences]], specialising in [[chemistry]]. During the [[First World War]] he served in the Anti-gas Department of the [[Royal Engineers]].
In 1922 he joined the Department of Biochemistry at Cambridge where he was directed to research [[haemoglobin]]. He published a number of papers on haemoglobin, and in 1926 he began to work with [[David Kellin]] on the [[haem]] containing [[protein]] [[cytochrome c]]. In 1932 he commenced work on plant biochemistry, focusing on photosynthesis and the oxygen evolution of [[chloroplast]]s, leading to the discovery of the 'Hill reaction'.
From 1943 Hill's work was funded by the [[Agricultural Research Council]] (ARC), although he remained working in the Cambridge Biochemistry Department. He was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in 1946. Hill continued to receive most recognition for his work on photosynthesis and from the late 1950s his work concentrated on the energetics of photosynthesis. Working with [[Fay Bendall]] he made his second great contribution to photosynthesis research. In 1960 Bendall and Hill discovered the 'Z scheme' of electron transport. He was awarded the [[Royal Medal]] in 1963, and the [[Copley Medal]] in 1987.
Hill retired from the ARC in 1966, although his research at Cambridge continued until his death in 1991. In his later years Hill worked on the issue of the application of the [[Second Law of Thermodynamics]] to photosynthesis.
He was an expert on natural dyes and grew plants such as madder and woad. He painted watercolours using pigments he had extracted himself. <ref>[http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0080-4606(199411)40%3C142%3ARH2A1M%3E2.0.CO%3B2-X Obituary by Derek Bendall.]</ref> In the 1920s he developed a fish-eye camera and used it to take stereoscopic whole-sky images, recording cloud patterns in three dimensions.
The [[Robert Hill Institute]] at the [[University of Sheffield]], from which he received an [[honorary degree]] in 1990, was named after him.
==Key publications==
*Hill, R., 1937. Oxygen evolution by isolated chloroplasts. ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' 139 S. 881-882
*Hill, R. 1939. Oxygen produced by isolated chloroplasts. ''Proc R SocLondon Ser B'' 127: 192–210
*Hill, R. and Whittingham, C.P. 1953. ''Photosynthesis''. Methuen, London
*Hill, R. and Bendall, F. 1960. Function of the 2 cytochrome components in chloroplasts- working hypothesis. ''Nature'' 186 (4719): 136-137 1960
==References==
*[[Dictionary of National Biography]]
*[http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/news/0312hill.html Archives Hub, Papers and correspondence of Robert (Robin) Hill, 1899-1991]
*Mabberley, D.J. Hill, Robert [Robin] (1899-1991), plant biochemist. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
*Walker, D.A. 2002. ‘[http://www.life.uiuc.edu/govindjee/Part1/Part1_Walker.pdf And whose bright presence’ – an appreciation of Robert Hill and his reaction]. ''Photosynthesis Research'' 73: 51–54, 2002.
==Footnotes==
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[[Category:1899 births|Hill, Robert]]
[[Category:1991 deaths|Hill, Robert]]
[[Category:People from Leamington Spa|Hill, Robert]]
[[Category:Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge|Hill, Robin]]
[[Category:English biochemists|Hill, Robert]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society|Hill, Robert]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Copley Medal|Hill, Robert]]
[[Category:Photosynthesis|Hill, Robert]]
[[cs:Robert Hill]]
[[de:Robert Hill (Naturforscher)]]
[[es:Robert Hill]]
[[fr:Robert Hill (biochimiste)]]