Talk:Eli Lilly/Archives/2013

DePauw alumni?

"He studied pharmacology at Asbury College (now Depauw University)..." I can't find any mention of this fact on DePauw.edu, or any place else for that matter. Can someone cite their source? Twohlford (talk) 21:13, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

According to the book, "All in a Century - The First 100 Years fo Eli Lilly and Company" by EJ Kahn, he did in fact study at Asbury College. It does not say what he studied, but says that his father (Gustavus) wanted him to become a pharmacist and sent him to live with an uncle in Lafayette, IN where he trained as a pharmacist at Good Samaritan drugstore. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.74.160.18 (talk) 20:03, 31 October 2009 (UTC)

The source I used was a brief bio of him in his grandson's biography. It says he did apprentice in the Good Samaritan Drug Store in Laffayette, and that he also studied at Asbury. —Charles Edward ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 02:12, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

Title

Colonel needs removed from the title per WP:MOS. Perhaps someone can suggest an disambiguation, as (industrialist) is used by his grandson. Grsz¹¹ 17:33, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

What about Eli Lilly (Colonel). I peronally would like to see the article renamed Eli Lilly, since he is the original namesake. Then move the current Eli Lilly page to Eli Lilly (disambiguation). Charles Edward (Talk) 18:07, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

You are a mind reader! I see you are already working on it. Charles Edward (Talk) 18:09, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

I have moved the former contents of Eli Lilly to the disambiguation page. Now as soon as that is deleted, this article can be moved there. Grsz¹¹ 18:15, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

An admin deleted it already, I went ahead and moved the article. Charles Edward (Talk) 18:26, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Capture by Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest

Does this reference in the article mean Colonel Lilly was personally captured by the General, or by the troops serving under him? Crashj (talk) 14:33, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

The source is not clear about that. I would presume it means that he was captured by troops under his command. —Charles Edward ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 14:40, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

First pharmaceutical company of its kind?

It says in the lead "Eli Lilly & Company was the first pharmaceutical firm of its kind; it staffed a dedicated research department and put in place numerous quality-assurance measures". To be honest this sounds like something from an Eli Lilly publicity brochure. Where is the reference to support this assertion? Does it mean the first of its kind in the world? There shouldn't be anything in the lead that isn't in the main body of the article but the nearest thing I can find to this is in the section Eli Lilly and Co. where it says:

"Although there were many other small pharmaceutical companies in the United States, Eli Lilly and Company distinguished itself from the others by having a permanent research staff, inventing superior techniques for the mass production of medicinal drugs, and its strong focus on quality"

That doesn't say anything about it being the first of its kind anywhere other than maybe in the US - but that's not certain. The same assertion is made in the main Eli Lilly article but the reference given for that - which actually is from the company's own website, says:

"Lilly was one of the first companies to initiate a bona fide pharmaceutical research program, hiring a pharmaceutical chemist as its first scientist."

Big claims need good proof and I don't think this claim has any. Richerman (talk) 16:33, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

The company was definatly the first of its kind in several ways. 1. It invented the methods used for the mass production of drugs, which is briefly stated in the article. Geliten coating for pills made the mass production of medicinal tablets possible. In short, he invented the pill in its modern form. Before that time, almost all man-made medicine came as a syrpy liquid which had to be drank. The coating allowed them to be converted to tastless capsules. 2. It was the first to staff a permanent research team, at least in the United States. But that part really developed more under his son's leadership, although its origin's trace back to Lilly. 3. It also created many of the early quality control measures that are now industry standards, like drug testing.

"Distinguished" was just how it was copy-edited at some point and it may have lost a portion of its meaning. It should say "One of the first". After reviewing the history of the page, someone removed "one of" at some earlier point today..[1] I am shocked by the level vandalism on this today! omg. However, the innovation and mass production innovations are mentioned in the article, as well as the a brief mention of the insitution of quality control measures and researching. And again in the legacy section, they are summed up and an additional reference is provided. —Charles Edward ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 17:15, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

There's always a high level of vandalism with the article featured on the front page - I don't know why someone doesn't warn you about that when it goes on. You really need a few people to keep a watch on it. I did change the lead to "one of the first" earlier today. I think that's a reasonable statement from the references given. Richerman (talk) 22:40, 11 May 2009 (UTC)