William Roberts (physician)

Sir William Roberts (1830 - 1899) was a physician in Manchester, England.

Contribution to the discovery of penicillin
Between 1870 and 1874, Roberts studied the dissolution of bacteria in cultures contaminated by a mold. He specifically studied the impact of Penicillium glaucum, a close relative of the Penicillium notatum.

See Discoveries of anti-bacterial effects of penicillium moulds before Fleming.

Coining of the term "enzyme"
Roberts coined the word "enzyme" in 1881, based on the Greek word "enzym", which Wilhelm Kuehne used in 1876. The anglicized version became popular among researchers by the 1890s.

Dietetics and Dyspepsia
In 1884, the publication of his "Dietetics and Dyspepsia" described "high feeding" and "low feeding": the diets of the upper and lower class. He speculated that diet was the reason for aristocratic capacity for intellectualism.

Royal Commission on Opium
When political pressure was brought against the British government's involvement in the Sino-Indian opium trade, the 1893-1895 Royal Commission on Opium was created to investigate the drug. Sir William Roberts was the medical expert on the commission.