Gregorio Weber at Cambridge
By J. Prebble and B. Weber
From: Wanderings in the Gardens of the Mind: Peter Mitchell and the makings of Glynn by J. Prebble and B. Weber. Oxford University Press, 2003
Page 49: Mitchell greatly liked Sanger but thought that his research was not imaginatively exciting. When Sanger won his first Nobel Prize in 1958 for the structure of insulin, Mitchell commented to Gregorio Weber that he didn’t think Sanger was that smart. To this Weber responded that of course Sanger was not smart to have stayed so long with a problem that nobody thought could be solved.
Page 58: Mitchell had a more serious confrontation with Young. In late 1952 or early 1953 he requested the purchase of a spectrophotometer that had recently become available. After discussing the cost and possible budgetry support, Young said “but Mitchell, you said you thought it would take about a nine month delivery time- How do you know you will be here when it arrives ?”. Mitchell recalled that “of course a hole formed in the floor, and I went straight down.”
Peter Mitchell with his Rolls Royce c. 1945, Cambridge
Shortly thereafter Mitchell, along with Northcote and Gregorio Weber, formed the SFDWSP Club (Society for Doing without Some People). Since Young had requested that all staff wear lab-coats, the Club members all wore black laboratory coats, a gesture noted by but not appreciated by Young.
By 1955, Mitchell’s future in the Department was murky at best.