Alice Withrow Explained

Birth Name:Alice Victoria Phillips
Birth Place:Louisville, Kentucky
Death Place:Montgomery County, Maryland
Qid:Q110155583
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Alice Victoria Phillips Withrow (September 5, 1907 – April 28, 1998) was an American botanist, plant physiologist and researcher of plant photochemistry.[1] Her focus of study was "the effect of light on the flowering and reproduction of plants" and along with her husband she developed a pioneering method of hydroponics.[2] [3]

Biography

Withrow was born on September 5, in Louisville, Kentucky to Roscoe M. and Ollie (Snawder) Phillips.[4] [5] She attended Butler University (B.A. degree, botany, 1929) and University of Cincinnati (M.A. degree, 1931), where her master's thesis "Life forms and leaf size classes of certain plant communities of the Cincinnati region" was overseen by Emma Lucy Braun[6] and published 1932 in the journal Ecology.[7] In 1931, she married Robert Bruce Withrow. Their honeymoon trip was the journey to Purdue University where they both had new jobs[8] and she later completed her Ph.D.[9] [10]

During World War II Withrow and her husband were consulting scientists for the U.S. Air Force on the problem of growing plants without soil, in part so that the military could "grow perishable vegetables on sandy bases in the Pacific." In May 1945 Withrow was preparing hydroponics kits for shipment to Canton Island, Espiritu and Ascension Island, with later installations planned for Port Moresby and Karachi.[11] A 2006 timeline of the history of hydroponic growing credited Withrow and her husband with introducing "inert gravel" as a growing medium, and noted that in 1945 the Air Force constructed a hydroponic farm on Wake Island that produced tomatoes, string beans, sweet corn and lettuce.[12] In late 1945 she lectured in Chicago on "soil-less culture and the effect of various spectrum colors on the growth rate of plants."[13] After the war, the Withrows published a paper comparing the use of mercury, incandescent and the new fluorescent lamps for growing plants.[14] The Withrows' research was featured in the science magazine Popular Mechanics in October 1946.[15]

In 1948 the Withrows relocated to the Smithsonian. In 1956 they co-authored a book chapter on "Generation, control, and measurement of visible and near-visible radiant energy" that was considered an "excellent and thorough review of the problems concerned with lighting."[16]

Withrow wrote the preface to a posthumously published book edited by her husband, Photoperiodism and related phenomena in plants and animals.[17] In the 1960s and 1970s, Withrow led the educational materials and instruction development division of the U.S. National Science Foundation.[18] [19]

Withrow had one child, Anne V. Withrow-Dalager (1934–1996).[20] [21] Withrow died on April 29, 1998, in Montgomery County, Maryland.[22]

Selected works

Notes and References

  1. Book: Aoyagi, William Shurtleff; Akiko . History of Soybean Physiology and Botany Research (250 BCE to 2021): Extensively Annotated Bibliography and Sourcebook . 2021-07-19 . Soyinfo Center . 978-1-948436-44-1 . en . 2023-01-29 . 2023-04-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230424163950/https://books.google.com/books?id=oSE5EAAAQBAJ&q=Alice+Withrow . live .
  2. Withrow . Alice P. . Withrow . Robert B. . 1947-10-01 . Plant Growth with Artificial Sources of Radiant Energy . Plant Physiology . 22 . 4 . 494–513 . 10.1104/pp.22.4.494 . 0032-0889 . 405889 . 16654118 . 2023-01-10 . 2023-04-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230424163938/https://academic.oup.com/plphys/article/22/4/494/6073595 . live .
  3. Book: Crump . Martha L. . Women in Field Biology: A Journey into Nature . Lannoo . Michael J. . 2022 . Routledge . 9780367820350 . n.p . en . 10.1201/9781003311508 . 249944980 . 2023-01-29 . 2023-03-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230312000407/https://books.google.com/books?id=aWZ2EAAAQBAJ&q=Alice+Withrow . live .
  4. Book: Who's Who of American Women and Women of Canada . 1968 . A.N. Marquis Company . 1336 . en.
  5. Web site: Alice Victoria Phillips, 1907 . registration . 2023-03-11 . Kentucky Births and Christenings, 1839–1960 . FamilySearch.org . 2023-03-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230312050823/https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FWJP-FBT . live .
  6. Stuckey . Ronald L. . E. Lucy Braun (1889–1971): Outstanding Botanist and Conservationist, a Biographical Sketch with Bibliography . Michigan Botanist . 1971 . Michigan Botanical Club . 12 . Ann Arbor . 96 . . 2023-03-12 . 2023-03-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230312071001/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/57520289#page/530/mode/1up . live .
  7. Withrow . Alice Phillips . January 1932 . Life Forms and Leaf Size Classes of Certain Plant Communities of the Cincinnati Region . Ecology . en . 13 . 1 . 12–35 . 10.2307/1932488 . 1932488 . 2023-03-12 . 2023-04-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230424163953/https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.2307/1932488 . live .
  8. News: 1953-09-08 . Scientists Combine Homelife and Career . en . 6 . Wichita Falls Record News . Associated Press Women's News . Wichita Falls, Texas . limited . 2023-03-11 . . 2023-03-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230312053929/https://www.newspapers.com/image/775043952/?clipping_id=120647941 . live .
  9. Web site: 1966 . Graduate Degrees Awarded 1897–1966 in Botany and Plant Pathology . Purdue University Herbarium . Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies E-Archives . 2023-01-10 . 2022-11-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221115022954/https://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/digital/collection/ua9/id/59/ . live .
  10. Withrow . Alice Phillips . June 1941 . The Responses of Certain Long and Short Day Plants to Intensity and Wavelength of Radiation and Nitrogen Nutrition . Purdue University . . Ph.D. . 2023-03-12 . 2023-03-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230312055156/https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/dissertations/AAI27708504/ . live .
  11. News: 1945-05-24 . Air Corps to Grow Salads in Water . en . 6 . The Journal Times . Racine, Wisconsin . limited . 2023-03-11 . Newspapers.com . 2023-03-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230312051442/https://www.newspapers.com/image/334495842/?terms=%22Alice%20P.%20Withrow%22&match=1&clipping_id=120663767 . live .
  12. News: 2006-03-17 . Hydroponic Greenhouse . en . 70 . Courier-Post . Brainstorm . Camden, N.J. . limited . 2023-03-11 . Newspapers.com . 2023-03-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230312053532/https://www.newspapers.com/image/183793511/?terms=%22Alice%20P.%20Withrow%22&match=1&clipping_id=120665610 . live .
  13. News: Gardeners Get Tips on How to Grow Plants Without Sun or Soil . Chicago Tribune . 1945-11-29 . 12 . 2023-03-12 . Newspapers.com . en . 2023-03-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230312064115/https://www.newspapers.com/image/370887683/ . live .
  14. Book: Sage, Linda C. . Pigment of the Imagination: A History of Phytochrome Research . 2012-12-02 . Elsevier . 978-0-323-13854-3 . 61–66 . en . 2023-03-11 . 2023-03-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230312053532/https://books.google.com/books?id=fUhihgURCjsC&pg=PA64 . live .
  15. Kinsey . John R. . October 1946 . Throwing Light on Mother Nature . Popular Mechanics . Hearst Magazines . 86 . 4 . 126–128 . 0032-4558 . 2023-03-12 . 2023-03-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230312001851/https://books.google.com/books?id=IuEDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA126 . live .
  16. Book: Salisbury, Frank B. . The Flowering Process . International series of monographs on pure and applied biology. Division, Plant physiology ;v. 4 . Macmillan . 1963 . New York . 82 . 10.5962/bhl.title.6229 . 63019739 . 647086017 . 5887079M . . free . free . 2023-03-12 . 2023-03-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230312080410/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc1.cu50113828&view=1up&seq=118&q1=Withrow . live .
  17. Book: Photoperiodism and related phenomena in plants and animals; proceedings . 1959 . American Association for the Advancement of Science . Conference on Photoperiodism . Withrow . Robert B. . Washington, D.C. . v–vi . en . 10.5962/bhl.title.6282 . 59010144 . 665164 . 5887079M . Publication No. 55 . . free . free . 2023-03-12 . 2023-03-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230312071941/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/6282 . live .
  18. News: Ten to Give Science Talk . Ithaca Cornell Daily Sun . 1961-05-17 . 6.
  19. Book: RANN 2: Realizing Knowledge as a Resource : Proceedings of the Second Symposium on Research Applied to National Needs, Washington Hilton, Washington, D.C., November 7–9, 1976 . 1977 . National Science Foundation . en . 2023-03-12 . 2023-03-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230312053533/https://books.google.com/books?id=Lxt5PLo-LBwC&pg=PA106 . live .
  20. News: 1958-04-09 . Dr. Robert B. Withrow, 54, Noted Expert on Plant Life . en . 40 . Evening Star . Obituaries . Washington, D.C. . limited . 2023-03-11 . Newspapers.com . 2023-03-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230312053535/https://www.newspapers.com/image/869784007/?terms=%22Alice%20Withrow%22%20botanist&match=1&article=7c5faace-1606-44ff-86da-eec41444764a . live .
  21. News: 1996-11-20 . ANNE WITHROW-DALAGER Real Estate Agent . B4 . The Washington Post . subscription . 2023-03-11 . . 2017-08-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170828212526/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1996/11/20/daniel-snyder-dies-at-age-55/cd89ef52-edf0-475d-b9ee-9a75fab1e90c/ . live .
  22. Web site: United States Social Security Death Index database, citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File . FamilySearch.org . Alice P Withrow, 28 Apr 1998 . 2023-03-12 . 2023-03-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230312053533/https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JB7P-NZ6 . live .

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