Newest Knights: 'Mad Prof,' 'Father of Viagra'

Pair of chemists, including scientist who 'laid the seed' for ED drug, honored
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 31, 2014 7:07 AM CST
Updated Dec 31, 2014 7:25 AM CST
Newest Knights: 'Mad Prof,' 'Father of Viagra'
Professor Martyn Poliakoff discusses science in video screenshot.   (Periodic Videos)

Move over, Walter White. Two chemists—one known as the "father of Viagra" and the other known as the "Mad Prof" of YouTube—have been knighted to kick off the new year, the BBC reports. Simon Campbell kick-started research on the erectile dysfunction drug during his 26-year tenure at Pfizer, though initially it was designed to treat high blood pressure. "I would say I was the father of Viagra because I laid the seed and started the project," he tells the BBC.

Meanwhile, professor Martyn Poliakoff, who has made inroads in green and sustainable chemistry, has become somewhat of an online celebrity with his "Periodic Table of Videos" and YouTube channel. He concedes his popularity may also be helped along by his resemblance to what the BBC calls "an archetypal mad scientist" with his puffy hair and glasses. "Even I have to admit that I look like … what people imagine scientists to look like," he tells the BBC. (The Brits can giveth a knighthood—and they can taketh it back.)

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