Ridiculed at first, Mitchell’s ideas about proton motive force proved to be visionary

uring his life, Peter Mitchell put forth such radical ideas concerning cellular energetics that some scientists considered him a crackpot. Today, however, he is recognized as one of the most original and insightful biologists of all time. His chemiosmotic theories provide the basis for understanding a variety of energy interconversion mechanisms in living organisms. In 1978, Mitchell received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his ideas and work on biological energy generation, processes he termed “vectorial metabolism.” Prior to that time, intense conflict, lasting nearly two decades and termed by many the “Chemiosmotic Wars,” had divided scientists concerned with the mechanistic bases of photosynthesis, oxidative metabolism, molecular transport, and cellular motility into bitterly feuding camps. During this period, the eccentric Mitchell worked in a secluded research institute of his own creation in Cornwall, England, with only a few devoted followers to establish the validity of his chemiosmotic hypotheses. Only in the late 1970s did he achieve wide recognition for his insightful concepts and relentless work. He died of cancer on 10 April 1992 at the age of 71. Mitchell was an intellectual dynamo who nearly single-handedly revolutionized our ideas about how photosynthesis and the metabolism of foodstuffs are coupled to the synthesis of the chemical energy currency of the cell, adenosine triphosphate (ATP). As such, he is an important part of science history and therefore worthy of study for his own sake. Peter Mitchell