John Punnett Peters (December 4, 1887 – December 29, 1955)[1][2] was an American physician, the John Slade Ely Professor of Medicine at Yale University from 1928 until his death in 1955. He was "one of the founders of modern clinical chemistry".[3] His 1932 textbook Quantitative Clinical Chemistry, coauthored with Donald Van Slyke, established clinical chemistry as a distinct discipline. His research articles and textbooks advanced the laboratory in the diagnosis and management of disease.[1] The book advanced the study of clinical chemistry, i.e. the measurement of blood levels of sodium, potassium, glucose, etc. as essential components of understanding health and disease. Along with other physicians and scientists, he “established the basis of our present scientific understanding of body fluids.”[4]
Peters was born in Philadelphia. He spent much of his growing up years in New York City. He did his undergraduate education at Yale University and earned his medical degree at Columbia University. During World War I he served as a medical doctor in the US army.[2]