William Prout

views updated

William Prout

1785-1850

English physician and chemist who formulated Prout's Hypothesis, which states that all atomic weights are whole numbers. His contributions to medicine were the result of his experiments and lectures on animal chemistry, which was then a largely unexplored field. Prout analyzed various natural products, such as urea and uric acid in urine, and suggested that excretory products were the result of the breakdown of tissues.

About this article

William Prout

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article