Hans Baruch American physiologist and inventor Country: USA

1. Biography of Hans Baruch
2. Early Life and Education
3. Career and Contributions
4. The Robot-Chemist and Later Work

Biography of Hans Baruch

Hans Baruch was an American physiologist and inventor, best known for his contributions to the development of scientific instruments and tools for automated analyzers in the field of clinical chemistry. His "robot-chemist" became the first commercially available discrete analyzer with digital printout results.

Early Life and Education

Hans Baruch was born in 1925 in Hamburg, Germany, where he grew up. He immigrated to the United States in 1938. Baruch attended the Bronx High School of Science, which was newly opened in 1938 for students with special talents in scientific fields. He was one of the fortunate few who passed the rigorous entrance exams. In June 1942, after graduating from high school, Baruch began his studies at Brooklyn College, where he met Abraham Maslow and quickly became one of his research assistants. During this period, Baruch gained practical and theoretical knowledge in the field of statistics. In November 1943, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served until November 1945. He received the Bronze Star Medal, Prisoner of War Medal, and three combat awards for his service on the European front. Before his demobilization, Baruch was assigned to Fort DuPont, Delaware, where he was tasked with leading the clinical laboratory at the garrison hospital. This experience sparked his interest in mechanizing clinical laboratory diagnostics.

Career and Contributions

After leaving the army, Baruch enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, where he initially studied psychology until he met Nikolaas Tinbergen in 1946 during a seminar. This encounter led Baruch to switch his focus to biology and chemistry, areas that had interested him during his military service. Shortly after arriving in California, Baruch met and married Flora Krauzer. The couple had three children: twin boys David and Duncan, and a daughter Claudia Kimbrough. In 1951, Hans Baruch invented the incubation flask during metabolic studies on tissue sections. This development, including its use in decarboxylation reactions, gained widespread acceptance throughout the United States. From 1951 to 1953, Baruch worked on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism indicators. He then fully transitioned to designing and manufacturing scientific equipment in his own company, Research Specialties Co. His creation quickly became one of the leading manufacturers of materials for paper, liquid, and gas chromatography. In gas chromatography, Baruch introduced the concept of modular construction, which later became the standard.

The Robot-Chemist and Later Work

By 1954, the concept of an automatic analyzer with discrete access began to take shape in Baruch's mind, and he began working on its design. Prototype production began in 1956, and the design, development, and engineering process lasted until 1959 when Baruch activated the commercial sale of his robot-chemist. The improved model of the analyzer consisted of four main components: two complex modules, a spectrophotometer, and a digital printing unit. In the late 1960s, Hans became interested in computer programming. Over the next 25 years, he wrote numerous useful programs for business, technical, and scientific needs. Baruch also continued to develop laboratory instruments and invented the precise liquid dispenser "Jet Pipet," which sold tens of thousands of copies.

In 2003, together with his old friend Philip F. Hirsch, Baruch published his final scientific review on the importance of the hormone calcitonin.