Stephen BabcockAgriculture’s MVP

Biography written by:

Becky MarburgerEducational ProducerWisconsin Media Lab

12

Glossary

butterfat (n): . . . . . . . . . . . . the fat in milk; used to make butter

chemistry (n): . . . . . . . . . . . the scientifi c study of the elements and their interactions with each other

consumers (n): . . . . . . . . . . people who buy and use products and services

engineering (n): . . . . . . . . the science of design and building things such as roads, buildings, and machines

independent (n): . . . . . . . . not needing or wanting help

laboratory (n): . . . . . . . . . . a room or building people used for scientifi c research

modest (adj): . . . . . . . . . . . . not proud or thinking better of oneself than others

perfectionist (n): . . . . . . . . someone who does not tolerate fl aws

scientist (n): . . . . . . . . . . . . a person who is expert in one of the sciences

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

School Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Wisconsin’s Dairy Industry . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The Babcock Test and Sylvia . . . . . . . . . . 6

Loving Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Introduction

When people in Madison, Wisconsin, hear the word “Babcock,” they think of ice cream. Babcock Hall on the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) campus is famous for the richness of the ice cream made there. But the hall was named for Stephen Babcock who was famous for far more than ice cream.

Stephen Babcock loved his work as a scientist at UW-Madison. His roaring laughter often echoed through the university’s chemistry buildings as he carried out his experiments.

Fame and glory did not drive him. Instead, Stephen’s goal to improve others’ lives drove his studies. He paved the way to the discovery of vitamins A and D and developed a new way to produce cheese. But Stephen’s claim to fame was the invention that holds his name: the Babcock Test. This tool not only improved the dairy industry in Wisconsin, but also around the world.

2

Image courtesy of the UW-Madison Archives.

Stephen Moulton Babcock

11

Today, Stephen’s name is famous for the ice cream made in Babcock Hall on campus. That is a fi tting honor for Stephen Babcock, the curious, modest, and laughing man who found a way to measure butterfat and change an industry.

Image courtesy of the UW-Madison Archives, S00111.

Stephen’s desire to help others motivated his work. What motivates you to accomplish your life goals?

Jeff Miller/University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Babcock Dairy Store was built on the UW-Madison campus in 1951. There, ice cream, cheese, and other dairy treats are made and sold.

Conclusion

Stephen died suddenly of heart failure on July 2, 1931.

He forever revolutionized the dairy industry with the test that bears his name. From his nutrition studies, Stephen also paved the way for others to make remarkable discoveries like vitamins A and D.

Above all, Stephen wanted to improve others’ lives. That inspired his work and did not end when he died. He willed his money to UW-Madison. Half of the money in the trust went to provide scholarships for students in the Department of Biochemistry. The other half was to be used to enrich the university’s agriculture library, especially its collection of rare and unusual books. Babcock Hall on UW-Madison’s campus bears his name, as does a nearby student housing cooperative.

10

Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-61310.

Stephen (above) did experiments to learn more about how food nutrition aff ects animals. His studies helped scientists like E.V. McCollum discover vitamin A andHarry Steenbock fi nd vitamin D.

Wisconsin Media Lab. 2015.

Roads, buildings, and cities named in Stephen’s honor can be found throughout Wisconsin.

School Days

On October 22, 1843, Peleg and Cornelia Babcock welcomed newborn Stephen to their sheep farm in Bridgewater, New York. Seven years later, they had another son named Linn. Stephen enjoyed spending time outdoors. When he was young, a bee sting robbed Stephen of the sight in one eye.

At age 18, Stephen attended Tufts University. He took general studies classes like Greek and Latin. “I didn’t care much for my college work at Tufts, and I didn’t do so well either,” Stephen told a Wisconsin State Journal reporter in 1931. “In fact, I came out at the foot of my class. I wasn’t only at the bottom of my class, I was in the sub-basement.”

3

Library of Congress. Digital ID: cph3b17965.

Telephones like the one being used here were becoming more common in the late 1800s. Stephen was skeptical of telephones, and refused to have one in his home. He had one in his offi ce because UW-Madison required it (1901).

4

But Stephen still had the desire to learn. So he enrolled in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, in the fall of 1866 to pursue an engineering degree. However, he returned home to take care of the family’s 300-acre farm after his fatherdied. Stephen moved to a20-acre farm in Ithaca, NewYork, several years later. Hedid this so he could farm andattend Cornell University parttime.

Professor G.C. Caldwell, a professor of agricultural chemistry at Cornell

University, recognized Stephen’s inquisitive nature and encouraged him to study chemistry instead of engineering. After he received his master’s degree in chemistry at Cornell, Stephen traveled to Germany and earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the University of Göttingen.

Stephen began his new career in 1881 as an agricultural chemist at the New York State Agriculture Experiment Station in Geneva, New York. There he used chemistry to analyze cow manure to determine which diet was best for cattle. While conducting experiments for this project, Stephen began to wonder what would happen if cattle consumed only one type of grain. This curiosity would later lead him to conduct a nutrition experiment.

Image courtesy of the UW-Madison Archives, S05976.

Stephen took a scientifi c approach toward many things in life, desiring evidence for claims others made. He would tell his students, “Just because you see it in a book is no reason to believe it so. Let’s look into it further.”

Loving Life

Stephen cherished his simple, quiet life with his wife, May, in their two-story home on Lake Street in Madison. He enjoyed attending baseball, basketball, and football games, and munching peanuts while cheering on the home team. Stephen was frugal, but splurged when he was 77 years old on a Franklin automobile. Going for car rides with May was one of his favorite pastimes.

After May’s death in 1927, friends encouraged 84-year-old Stephen to move to the local University Club where he could be cared for. But Stephen wanted to stay independent. He continued to walk from his home to work, rain or shine, and neighbors often saw him puttering around his ill-kempt garden overfl owing with his favorite fl ower—hollyhocks.

9

Image courtesy of the UW-Madison Archives.

Stephen Babcock married Mary (May) Crandall on October 27, 1896. The couple did not have any children.

Image courtesy of the UW-Madison Archives, S12082.

Stephen’s favorite fl ower was the hollyhock. Th e Babcock hollyhock was named for him.

The Babcock Test was both low-cost and reliable. Consumers in Wisconsin and around the world began to trust the dairy industry as farmers no longer added water to milk. But modest Stephen refused to patent the Babcock Test. He created it to help better people’s lives, not for fame or fortune. UW-Madison eventually patented the test. The Babcock Test won numerous awards around the world, including grand prize at the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris. Stephen graciously accepted a medal presented to him from the Wisconsin State Legislature and several oil paintings from New Zealand and Australia, but he never accepted money for his work.

8

Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-30279.

Bob LaFollette was a Wisconsin politician at the turn of the 20th century who supported and promoted the Wisconsin Idea.

Stephen Babcock did his work because he wanted to help better people’s lives. This belief is similar to the Wisconsin Idea.

The University of Wisconsin (UW) has followed the Wisconsin Idea since its beginning in 1848. The Wisconsin Idea is the belief that the university should develop programs and do research to help all Wisconsin citizens. The UW’s research should also be used to solve problems and improve health, quality of life, and the environment. The Wisconsin Idea is still followed on UW campuses.

Wisconsin Idea

Image courtesy of the UW-Madison Archives, Memorabilia_00667.

Governor Bob LaFollette and the Wisconsin Legislature gave Stephen this bronze medal for inventing the Babcock Test (1899).

Wisconsin’s Dairy Industry

The dairy industry was becoming more popular in Wisconsin during the late 1880s. Many of the state’s farmers grew wheat to make a living during the early 1800s. But after the soil’s nutrients were depleted and the chinch bug infested the state’s crops, farmers turned to milk production. Historically, dairy farming was viewed as “women’s work” and too labor-intensive compared to wheat farming, but farmers saw opportunity in the industry. Farmers were paid by how much milk they sold. Some dishonest farmers began to add water to their milk to have more to sell.

Butterfat in milk produces quality dairy products. Consumers like creameries and cheese factories began paying farmers for their milk based on how much butterfat it contained to deter them from adding water. But the methods to test for butterfat content were both inaccurate and inconsistent. The industry needed a new test to restore consumer trust in the dairy industry.

5

Wisconsin is known as “America’s Dairyland.” In 2014, 27.9 billion pounds of milk and 11.5 billion pounds of cheese were made in the state. Wisconsin has been the top cheese producing state since 1910.

Image courtesy of the UW-Madison Archives.

The Babcock Test and Sylvia

Stephen moved to Wisconsin in January 1888, after accepting an agricultural chemist position at UW-Madison. Dean Henry tasked Stephen with fi nding a practical butterfat test that both farmers and cheese and creamery owners could use on site instead of in a laboratory.

Stephen set to work tinkering and testing in his fourth fl oor laboratory in Old South Hall. He set out fi rst to separate the butterfat from the milk. After many experiments, he learned that adding sulfuric acid to milk caused the butterfat to separate from it.

6

Stephen was known for being a joyful and pleasant person, as well as for having a hearty laugh. He even had the nickname “The Laughing Saint of Science.” While working at UW-Madison, Dean Henry could often hear Stephen’s laughter from four fl oors above him. He asked Stephen to try to control himself and set a better example for students. But Dean Henry learned it was impossible to control Babcock’s laughter. So he learned to enjoy Babcock’s merry spirit.

Roaring Laughter

Image courtesy of the UW-Madison Archives, S04927.

Dean Henry (right) recruited Stephen in 1887 to get him to work at UW-Madison.

7

But how to measure the butterfat? He discovered that adding milk and acid to a fl ask he designed and spinning the mixture in a centrifuge caused the butterfat to rise to the top so it could be measured.

Stephen’s discovery elated Dean Henry, who wanted to immediately publicize the results. However, Stephen was a perfectionist and would not share his test because it worked for all the university cows but one, a Jersey named Sylvia. Dean Henry gave Stephen permission to try to improve the test, but pressed him to do it quickly. After several modifi cations, Stephen succeeded. His test worked for all milk he tried. In July 1890, Stephen published the Babcock Test.

Image courtesy of the UW-Madison Archives, S04925.

The Babcock Test could be used almost any place and by any person. Here, students at an elementary school learned to use it.

Image courtesy of the UW-Madison Archives.

Stephen designed a special graduated cylinder that had markings on it that were used to measure the milk’s butterfat.