Alexander Gettler

Alexander was a scientist in New York. He worked in a lab to find poisons. He often made new tests. He would mash up bits of liver. Then he would look for tiny bits of bad things. One time, he used a special tool. This tool helped him prove a man was not guilty. He also taught students how to do science. He helped start new classes for them. Alexander was a very important helper for the law.

Alexander Gettler was a famous scientist in New York. He was a toxicologist. This is a scientist who studies poisons. He was the first person to do this job for a U.S. city. He worked at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner.

He had to find ways to spot poisons in the body. Sometimes he had to make new tests. He would mash up bits of liver. Then he would look for tiny bits of poison. He used many ways to do this. He looked at how things melted or boiled. He also looked at how colors changed.

In 1935, he used a new tool called a spectrograph. This tool helps scientists study light. He used it to help a man in a crime case. The man was thought to have poisoned his children with cocoa. Gettler proved the cocoa was safe. He showed the poison was actually thallium.

He also taught many students. He started a new class about poisons in 1935. He worked for a long time. He retired in 1959. People call him the father of forensic toxicology in America.

Alexander Gettler was a very important scientist in New York. He was a toxicologist, which is a scientist who studies poisons. He was the first person to do this job for a city in the United States. He worked for the Office of Chief Medical Examiner from 1918 to 1959. Many people call him the father of forensic toxicology in America. His work helped create the way modern investigations are done today. He worked closely with Charles Norris to build this new field.

To find poisons, Gettler had to invent many new ways of testing. He often worked with raw liver to practice his methods. He would mash or turn the tissue into a liquid. Then, he looked for tiny amounts of poison using different steps. He checked how things melted or boiled. He also looked at color changes and crystal formation. He even used a method called titration to find what was hidden.

Gettler was born in 1883 in Galicia, Poland. At that time, it was part of the Empire of Austria-Hungary. When he was seven, he moved to the United States. He traveled on a ship called the Westernland. His father, Joseph, and his sister, Elise, came with him. They arrived at the Port of New York in May 1891. He grew up in Brooklyn and later studied at Columbia University.

In 1935, Gettler used a special tool called a spectrograph. A spectrograph is a tool that helps scientists study light. He used it to solve a hard case in Brooklyn. A man named Frederick Gross was once thought to have poisoned his children. People thought the poison was in cocoa powder from his work. However, Gettler used the spectrograph to prove the cocoa was safe. He showed that the real poison was thallium. This discovery helped find the true cause of the tragedy.

Gettler was also a very busy teacher. He taught chemistry at New York University for many years. In 1935, he started a special toxicology course at City College of New York. He taught students about how to find poisons in the body. He retired from his teaching job in 1948. He later retired from his office job in 1959 at age 75. He stayed interested in science until he died ten years later.

Alexander Oscar Gettler was a pioneer in the field of forensic toxicology. Toxicology is the study of how poisons affect living things. Gettler served as a toxicologist for the Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) in New York City. He worked in this role from 1918 until 1959. He was the first forensic chemist employed by a major U.S. city in this capacity. Because of his foundational work, peers often call him the "father of forensic toxicology in America." His scientific methods helped create the basis for modern medicolegal investigations in the United States.

To identify substances within a body, Gettler had to develop many new scientific tests. He often practiced his methods by experimenting on raw liver. His goal was to learn how to isolate ever-smaller amounts of poison from biological tissue. The process usually began by mashing or liquefying the tissue into a workable form. Once the tissue was prepared, he used several different analytical techniques. He performed crystal formation tests to see if specific patterns appeared. He also analyzed melting and boiling points to identify unknown substances. Additionally, he used color reactions and a process called titration to confirm his findings.

Gettler's work involved many different types of chemical analysis. He wrote numerous scientific papers on how to isolate specific substances. One example included his research on isolating benzene from human bodies. He also made important observations regarding gases in the body. In 1933, he was among the first scientists to recognize that carbon monoxide can exist naturally within the human body. He even suggested that the human gut microbiome might be a source of this gas. This showed how complex the chemical makeup of a living person can be.

In 1935, Gettler utilized a spectrograph to solve a very difficult criminal case. A spectrograph is a scientific instrument used to study the properties of light. This tool helped him investigate the deaths of four children in Brooklyn. A bookkeeper named Frederick Gross had been arrested because people thought he poisoned them. The initial suspicion was that the poison was in cocoa powder he brought home from work. However, a previous chemical test had incorrectly identified copper contamination as thallium. Gettler used the spectrograph to prove the cocoa powder was not the source. The examiners eventually concluded that the children's mother had committed the crime before she died of encephalitis.

Gettler's journey to New York began with his childhood in Europe. He was born Jewish in Galicia, Poland, in 1883. At that time, Galicia was a part of the Empire of Austria-Hungary. When he was seven years old, he emigrated to the United States. He traveled with his father, Joseph, and his sister, Elise. They arrived at the Port of New York on May 6, 1891, aboard the Red Star Line steamer, Westernland. He grew up in Brooklyn and eventually earned a PhD in Biochemistry from Columbia University in 1912.

Beyond his laboratory work, Gettler was a dedicated educator. He held several teaching positions throughout his career. In the 1920s, he served as a professor of chemistry at Washington Square College of New York University. He also held a post at the New York University Graduate School. In 1935, he established a new toxicology course at the City College of New York. He continued to teach until he reached the mandatory retirement age in 1948. His ability to balance laboratory science with teaching helped spread the importance of toxicology to new students.

Gettler's career at the OCME lasted for over forty years. He worked closely with Charles Norris, the chief medical examiner who established the office in 1918. Their partnership built the framework for how cities investigate deaths involving chemicals. Even though he often worked with low pay due to severe budget cuts, his impact remained huge. He retired from the medical examiner's office on January 1, 1959, at the age of 75. He remained interested in the science of toxicology until he died from a terminal illness about ten years later. His legacy lives on through the Alexander O. Gettler Award, which is given by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.