In focus, out of step

Frederick William Twort F.R.S. (1877-1950) was an important bacteriologist in the days when that branch of science, if not in its infancy, was regarded within the medical world as something of a 'poor relation'. He was Superintendent of the unique Brown Animal Sanatory Institution in London for 35 years, where he made several far-reaching discoveries, most notably that of the bacteriophage in 1915. Although in 1929 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, Twort never felt that his work received proper recognition in more practical financial terms. His professional life was dogged by the struggle for research funds, yet he was a firm individualist and never one to opt for a compromise. This rigid and sometimes misplaced adherence to what he believed to be the only path for a true scientist almost inevitably brought him into conflict with those of a more pragmatic disposition. This is an unusual biography of a most interesting and unconventional character. His upbringing was harsh, influencing his later attitude to those in positions of authority, and his professional life one of turmoil and controversy. But behind a somewhat remote exterior was a warm and loving individual who had firm friends, pursued many hobbies and enjoyed a happy home life with his wife and four children.