Lecomte Du Nouy and the Beauty of Precision

Illustrated by Phillip Wood. Pierre Lecomte Du Nouy (1883-1947), the inventor of the elegant Du Nouy Tensiometer for measuring liquid surface tension, and of the Du Nouy Micro-Viscosimeter for studying serum, was a dependable, practical and highly productive biophysicist who is all but unknown today due to his having written a book, HUMAN DESTINY, which was critical of modern evolutionary biology. This paper recovers and explains his major work, describes his instruments and their applications to an understanding of basic living processes, and discloses the manner in which his reputation was ruined. The discussion of the sociology of science shows that even the greatest talent can be buried by politics in the scientific community.