Katherine Warington

Katherine Warington (5 September 1897 – 3 July 1993) was a botanist and the first person to show that boron, as boric acid, was essential for the healthy growth of plants.

[3] In 1923 she gained her MSc from the University of London with her thesis: The effect of boric acid and borax on the broad bean and certain other plants.

Warington's work with boron came about because an entomologist wanted to find a way of making bean plants distasteful to black fly (Aphis).

[7] Warington's work required meticulous care as she had to maintain a boron free solution as her control throughout the life of the beans.

[1] Dr Hugh Nicol commented "It is not given to everyone to found a minor industry with her first piece of research, yet this, in effect, happened in her case...the agricultural consumption of boron compounds attained considerable dimension".