Abstract
In the same year, 1961, Peter D. Mitchell and Robert R.J.P. Williams both put forward hypotheses for the mechanism of oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria and photophosphorylation in chloroplasts. Mitchell’s proposal was ultimately adopted and became known as the chemiosmotic theory. Both hypotheses were based on protons and differed markedly from the then prevailing chemical theory originally proposed by E.C. (Bill) Slater in 1953, which by 1961 was failing to account for a number of experimental observations. Immediately following the publication of Williams’s hypothesis and before his own was published, Mitchell initiated a correspondence. Examination of the letters shows the development of a dispute based on the validity of the proposals, who should have priority and particularly whether Mitchell had drawn on Williams’s work without acknowledgement. We have concluded that Mitchell’s proposals were original (a view still questioned by Williams) although it is evident that prior to the correspondence Williams had considered and rejected a proposition similar to Mitchell’s theory. However, a major cause of the dispute was the difference in disciplinary backgrounds of Mitchell, a microbial biochemist and Williams, a chemist.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Douglas. Allchin (1997) ArticleTitle“A Twentieth-Century Phlogiston: Constructing Error and Differentiating Domains” Perspectives in Science 5 81–127
William Bechtel (1986) Biochemistry: A cross-disciplinary endeavor that discovered a distinctive domain William Bechtel (Eds) Integrating Scientific Disciplines Martinus Nijhoff Dordrecht 77–100
Boyer, Paul D. 1970. A discussion note, in: J.M. Tager, S. Papa, E. Quagliariello and E.C. Slater (eds.), Electron transport and Energy Conservation. Bari: Adriatica Editrice, 380 pp.
Paul D. Boyer (1975a) ArticleTitle“Energy Transduction and Proton Translocation by Adenosine Triphosphatases” FEBS Letters 50 91–94 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0014-5793(75)80464-9
Paul D. Boyer (1975b) ArticleTitle“A Model for Conformational Coupling of Membrane Potential and Proton Translocation to ATP Synthesis and to Active Transport” FEBS Letters 58 1–6 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0014-5793(75)80212-2
Robert E Davies Hans A. Krebs (1952) ArticleTitle“The Biochemical Aspects of the Transport of Ions by Nervous TissueBiochem” Biochemical Society Symposium 8 77–92
Robert E Davies Alexander G. Ogston (1950) ArticleTitle“On the Mechanism of Secretion of Ions by Gastric Mucosae and Other Tissues” Biochemical Journal 46 324–33
Lars Ernster Gottfried Schatz (1981) ArticleTitle“Mitochondria, A Historical Review” Journal of Cell Biology 91 227s–255s Occurrence Handle10.1083/jcb.91.3.227s
Steve Fuller (2000) Thomas Kuhn: A Philosophical History for Our Times University of Chicago Press Chicago
D Hutchings R.J.P. Williams (1956) ArticleTitle“Some Uses of Ion-Exchange Membrane Electrodes” Faraday Society Discussions 21 192
David L. Hull (1988) Science as a Process University of Chicago Press Chicago
H. Irving R.J.P. Williams (1950) ArticleTitle“The Effect of Time and Temperature on Potentials Measured with the Glass Electrode” Journal of the Chemical Society 1950 2890
Hermann M. Kalckar (1969) Biological Phosphorylations, Development of Concepts Prentice Hall Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Aharon Kantorovich (1993) Scientific Discovery. Logic and Tinkering State University of New York Press Albany, NY
Thomas Kuhn (1959) The essential Tension: Tradition and Innovation in Scientific Research C.W. Taylor (Eds) The Third (1959) University of Utah Research Conference on the Identification of Scientific Talent University of Utah Press Salt Lake City 162–174
Thomas Kuhn (1962) ArticleTitle“The Historical Structure of Scientific Discovery” Science 136 760–764
Martin J. Kushmerick (2001) ArticleTitle“Robert Ernest Davies” Biog. Mems. Fell. R. Soc. Lond 47 141–157
Albert L. Lehninger (1962) ArticleTitle“Water Uptake and Extrusion by Mitochondria in Relation to Oxidative Phosphoylation” Physiological Reviews 42 467–517
Albert L. Lehninger (1964) The Mitochondrion Benjamin New York
Albert L. Lehninger C.L. Wadkins (1962) ArticleTitle“Oxidative Phosphorylation” Annual Review of Biochemistry 31 47–78 Occurrence Handle10.1146/annurev.bi.31.070162.000403
Fritz Lipmann (1946) ‘Metabolic process Patterns’ in Currents in Biochemical Research Interscience Publishers New York 137–148
R. Milner (2002) ArticleTitle“Putting Darwin in his place” Scientific American 287 IssueID4 103–104
Peter. Mitchell (1959) ArticleTitle“Structure and Function in Microorganisms” Biochemical Society Symposium 16 73–93
Peter. Mitchell (1961a) ArticleTitle“Coupling of Phosphorylation to Electron and Hydrogen Transfer by a Chemi-osmotic Type of Mechanism” Nature 191 144–148
Peter Mitchell (1961b) ArticleTitle“Chemiosmotic Coupling in Oxidative and Photosynthetic Phosphorylation” Biochem. J. 79 23P–24P
Peter. Mitchell (1961c) Approaches to the Analysis of Specific Membrane Transport T.W. Goodwin O. Lindberg (Eds) Biological Structure and Function NumberInSeriesVol. 2 Academic Press London 581–603
Peter. Mitchell (1962) ArticleTitle“Metabolism, Transport and Morphogenesis: Which Drives Which?” Journal of General Microbiology 29 25–37
Peter. Mitchell (1963) ArticleTitle“Molecule, Group and Electron Translocation Through Natural Membranes” Biochemical Society Symposium 22 142–169
Peter. Mitchell (1965) ArticleTitle“Stoichiometry of Proton Translocation through the Respiratory Chain and Adenosine Triphosphatase Systems of Rat Liver Mitochondria” Nature 208 1478–151
Peter. Mitchell (1966a) ArticleTitle“Chemiosmotic Coupling in Oxidative and Photosynthetic Phosphorylation” Biological Reviews 41 445–502
Peter. Mitchell (1966b) Chemiosmotic Coupling in Oxidative and Photosynthetic Phosphorylation Glynn Research Limited Bodmin, Cornwall
Peter. Mitchell (1974) ArticleTitle“A Chemiosmotic Molecular Mechanism for Proton-Translocating Adenosine Triphoshatases” FEBS Letters 43 189–194 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0014-5793(74)80997-X
Mitchell Peter. 1981. “From Black-box Bioenergetics to Molecular Mechanics: Vectorial Ligand Conduction Mechanisms in Biochemistry.” G. Semenza (ed.), Of Oxygen, Fuels and Living Matter Vol. 1. New York, pp. 1–160.
Peter Mitchell Jennifer. Moyle (1956) ArticleTitle“Osmotic Function and Structure in Bacteria” Symposium for the Society for General Microbiology 6 150–180
Peter Mitchell (1958) ArticleTitle“Group-Translocation: A Consequence of Enzyme-Catalysed Group-Transfer” Nature 182 372–373
John N. Prebble (1996) ArticleTitle“Successful Theory Development in Biology. A Consideration of the Theories of Oxidative Phosphorylation proposed by Davies & Krebs, Williams, and Mitchell” Bioscience Reports 16 207–215 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF01207335
John N. Prebble (1999) ArticleTitle“What makes Biochemical Heroes?” The Biochemist 21 IssueIDAug. 1999 47–49
John N. Prebble (2001) ArticleTitle“The Philosophical Origins of Mitchell’s Chemiosmotic Concepts. The Personal Factor in Scientific Theory Formulation” Journal of History of Biology 34 433–460
John N. Prebble (2002) ArticleTitle“Peter Mitchell and the ox phos Wars” Trends in Biochemical Sciences 27 209–212
John N. Prebble Bruce H Weber (2003) Wandering in the Gardens of the Mind. Peter Mitchell and the making of Glynn Oxford University Press New York
Robert N. Robertson (1960) ArticleTitle“Ion Transport and Respiration” Biological Reviews 35 231–264
Steven. Shapin (1982) ArticleTitle“History of Science and its Sociological Reconstructions” History of Science 20 157–203
Edward C. Slater (1953) ArticleTitle“The Mechanism of phosphorylation in the Respiratory Chain” Nature 172 975–978
Slater, Edward C. 1966. “Oxidative Phosphorylation.” Florkin Marcel and H. Stotz. Elmer (eds.), Comprehensive Biochemistry 14: 327–396. Amsterdam.
Edward C. Slater (1970) Introduction J.M. Tager S. Papa E. Quagliariello E.C. Slater (Eds) Electron Transport and Energy Conservation Adriatica Editrice Bari 1–4
M.I. Verkhovsky A. Jasaitis M.L. Verkhovsky J.E. Morgan Mårten. Wikström (1999) ArticleTitle“Proton translocation by cytochrome oxidase” Nature 400 380–483
Bruce H Weber (1986) The Impact of the Prague Symposium on the Conceptual Development of Bioenergetics: A Retrospective and Prospective View F. Alvarado C.H. Os Particlevan (Eds) Ion Gradient-Coupled Transport INSERM Symp.26 Elsevier Amsterdam 1–9
Bruce H Weber (1991) ArticleTitle“Glynn and the Conceptual Development of the Chemiosmotic Theory: A Retrospective and Prospective View” Bioscience Reports 11 577–647 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF01130219
Williams, Robert J.P. 1959. “Coordination, Chelation and Catalysis.” P. Boyer, H. Lardy and H. Myrbäck (eds.), The Enzymes second ed., Vol. 1. New York, pp. 391–441.
Robert J.P Williams (1961) ArticleTitle“Possible Functions of Chains of Catalysts” Journal of Theoretical Biology 1 1–17 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0022-5193(61)90023-6
Robert J.P Williams (1962) ArticleTitle“Possible functions of Chains of Catalysts II” Journal of Theoretical Biology 3 209–229
Robert J.P Williams (1966) Some Theoretical Problems concerning Iron Porphyrins B. Chance R.W. Estabrook T. Yonetani (Eds) Hemes and Hemoproteins Academic Press New York 557–576
Robert J.P Williams (1969) Electron Transfer and Energy Conservation D.R. Sanadi (Eds) Current Topics in Bioenergetics 3 Academic Press New York 79–156
Robert J.P Williams (1970a) Electron transfer, Conformational Changes and Energy Conservation J.M. Tager S. Papa E. Quagliariello E.C. Slater (Eds) Electron transport and Energy Conservation Adriatica Editrice Bari 7–23
Robert J.P Williams (1970b) Energy Pressure Expressed as Changes in Concentration Terms and Changes in Standard States J.M. Tager S. Papa E. Quagliariello E.C. Slater (Eds) Electron transport and Energy Conservation Adriatica Editrice Bari 373–381
Robert J.P Williams (1975) ArticleTitle“Proton-Driven Phosphorylation Reactions in Mitochondrial and Chloroplast Membranes” FEBS Letters 53 123–125 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0014-5793(75)80001-9
Robert J.P Williams (1993) ArticleTitle“The History of Proton-Driven ATP Formation” Bioscience Reports 13 191–212 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF01123502
Robert J.P Williams (2002a) ArticleTitle“Mitchell and Proticity” The Scientist 16 IssueID18 14
Robert J.P Williams (2002b) ArticleTitle“Bioenergetics and Peter Mitchell” Trends in Biochemical Sciences 27 393–394 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0968-0004(02)02138-2
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Weber, B.H., Prebble, J.N. An Issue of Originality and Priority: The Correspondence and Theories of Oxidative Phosphorylation of Peter Mitchell and Robert J.P. Williams, 1961–1980. J Hist Biol 39, 125–163 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10739-005-3052-4
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10739-005-3052-4