Editing Magnus Pyke (section)

== Early life and scientific career ==
Pyke was born at [[Gloucester Terrace]], [[Paddington]], London, the son of Clara Hannah Lewis and Robert Bond Pyke, manager of a wholesale confectionery business. He went to [[St Paul's School, London|St. Paul's School]], Barnes, London, where he found he had a "certain bounciness combined with a lack of self-consciousness."<ref name="The Six Lives of Pyke">{{cite book|last1=Pyke|first1=Magnus|title=The Six Lives of Pyke|date=1981|publisher=Dent|location=London}}</ref>

He worked briefly for an insurance company before moving to Canada to attend [[Macdonald Campus|Macdonald College]], [[McGill University]], Montreal, studying [[agriculture]], gaining a [[Bachelor of Science|BSc]] in 1933. During summers there, he worked as a farm labourer. He remained in Canada for seven years.<ref name="The Independent">{{cite web|last1=The Independent|title=Obituary: Magnus Pyke|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-magnus-pyke-1558840.html/|website=www.independent.co.uk|accessdate=27 September 2017}}</ref>

He returned to the UK and in 1934 became chief [[chemist]] at Vitamins Ltd., [[Hammersmith]], London. He worked with [[Jack Drummond|Professor J.C.Drummond]] of [[University College London|University College]], London on [[vitamin]] research. He gained a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in [[biochemistry]] in 1936.<ref name="Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Magnus Pyke">{{cite web|last1=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|title=Magnus Pyke|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/51288/|website=www.oxforddnb.com|accessdate=27 September 2017}}</ref>

On 23 August 1937 he married Dorothea Mina Vaughan (1907–86), an [[accountant]]. They had a daughter and a son.<ref name="The Independent"/>