RAYMOND HIDE Read, P. L.
Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society,
12/2019, Letnik:
67
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Raymond Hide was a physicist who worked at the interfaces between fundamental hydrodynamics, magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), the geophysics of the Earth’s interior, atmosphere and oceans and those of ...other planets. He received his PhD from the University of Cambridge, and spent the majority of his career at the Met Office and then the University of Oxford. In laboratory studies of sloping thermal convection carried out at Cambridge in the early 1950s he discovered various regimes of vacillation and other multiply-periodic intransitive flows as well as aperiodic flows, now recognized as a form of geostrophic turbulence. These findings influenced seminal mathematical studies of what came to be known as deterministic chaos, and provided a paradigm for interpreting large-scale flows in the atmospheres of the Earth and other planets. Related contributions include general theoretical results tested by crucial laboratory experiments on boundary layers, Taylor columns and detached shear layers. His contributions to MHD include the concepts of potential magnetic field and magnetic superhelicity. He also initiated research on the dynamo origin of the magnetic fields of Jupiter and other major planets and its implications for their internal structure and dynamics. His extensive research on fluctuations of the Earth’s rotation led to new developments in areas as diverse as meteorology and climatology and studies of the structure and dynamics of the Earth’s deep interior.
BRICE BOSNICH Bennett, Martin A.
Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society,
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Brice Bosnich, an Australian inorganic chemist, graduated from the University of Sydney and obtained his PhD at the Australian National University, Canberra. He then worked successively at University ...College London, the University of Toronto and the University of Chicago. He had an abiding interest in stereochemistry and its relationship with chemical reactivity, and in the chirality and optical activity of coordination and organometallic complexes, mainly those of the d-block elements. His early studies concerned the topological and conformational behaviour of classical coordination compounds, mainly of cobalt(III), and made extensive use of the technique of circular dichroism. He put this background to elegant use in perhaps his most distinctive work, namely, the design and synthesis of a C₂-symmetric ditertiary phosphine, (S, S)-chiraphos, the rhodium(I) complex Rh{Ph₂PCH(CH₃)CH(CH₃)PPh₂}⁺ of which catalysed efficiently the homogeneous hydrogenation of prochiral enamides to amino acids in high optical purity. Bosnich traced the high enantioselectivity to the chiral array of P-phenyl substituents that is generated on coordination of (S, S)-chiraphos. In principle, catalytic enantioselective synthesis represents a powerful and economic method of introducing chirality into the synthesis of biologically active molecules, which, since the thalidomide tragedy, are required to be marketed only in optically pure forms. Dissymmetric ligands similar to (S, S)-chiraphos are now routinely employed in this type of synthesis. Bosnich developed several other enantioselective processes based on organo-transition metal chemistry. He also had several quasi-theoretical interests, including the possible use of circular dichroism to determine the absolute configuration of chiral metal complexes, and the development of a molecular mechanics force field for metallocenes. He maintained a strong interest in the properties of multimetallic proteins and devoted much effort to the construction of chiral binucleating ligands. During the 7–8 years before his retirement from the University of Chicago in 2006, he shifted his research to supramolecular recognition by suitably designed metal complexes.
SIR PATRICK ALFRED CALDWELL-MOORE May, Alex; Longair, Malcolm
Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society,
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67
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Patrick Moore was the archetype of the English eccentric, bringing a passionate enthusiasm for astronomy to the general public, principally through his long-running television series The Sky at ...Night. He was an inspired amateur who made no pretence at being a professional, but who had the extraordinary ability to communicate in simple, articulate and direct language the significance of advances in astronomy and astrophysics to the general public. He inspired generations of young people to take an interest in astronomy, and in science in general. This passion was combined with a love of everything English, especially cricket, and political views which might be mildly described as extreme right-wing.
LILLIAN MARY PICKFORD Morrison, John F. B.; Russell, John A.
Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society,
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Mary Pickford was an experimental physiologist who carried out pioneering work on the actions of the hormones (oxytocin and vasopressin syn. antidiuretic hormone, ADH) secreted by the posterior ...pituitary gland, which is part of the brain. She provided understanding of how the secretion of these hormones is controlled to regulate body fluid composition, specifically the maintenance, through actions on the kidneys, of normal osmolarity and Na⁺ concentration, and hence blood volume and pressure. Using the water-loaded dog model she showed that vasopressin is the only hormone that regulates the excretion of water, by stimulating the kidneys to concentrate urine; she found that oxytocin could stimulate excretion of Na⁺. She showed that acetylcholine is an excitatory neurotransmitter in the hypothalamus, stimulating the neurons that produce vasopressin to secrete—the first evidence for acetylcholine action in the brain. The principles that Mary established have been extensively confirmed; hence, she was important in the establishment of the concepts and discipline of neuroendocrinology, which is about the bidirectional interactions between hormones and the brain. Using human and animal models, in her later work Mary focused on possible roles of interactions between female sex hormones and vasodilating actions of oxytocin in the perimenopausal problem of ‘hot flashes’ (or ‘hot flushes’) experienced by many women. She faced, but overcame, entrenched gender prejudice during her career; she was the first woman to be elected to the Pharmacological Society, and the first woman appointed to a chair in the Edinburgh Medical School.
MARTIN HAROLD PHILLIPS BOTT Watts, Anthony Brian
Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society,
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Martin Bott was a geophysicist who made fundamental contributions to our understanding of gravity and magnetic anomalies and their geological interpretation. His research on the deep structure of the ...Earth’s crust was both pioneering and innovative, and he showed how field geophysical measurements could be used to address geological problems such as the mechanics of granite emplacement, sedimentary basin formation and mountain building. When he began his research, the use of gravity and magnetic anomalies to understand deep crustal structure was in its infancy and largely confined to research laboratories in the oil and gas industry. Four decades later his lifetime efforts have seen the emergence of potential field methods as one of the principal means of constraining the structure, stress state and long-term strength of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle in continents and oceans. Martin was an inspiring undergraduate teacher and outstanding supervisor, as reflected by his many research students who went on to prominent leadership positions in academia, government and industry. He leaves a legacy of more than 150 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals and a lucidly written and beautifully illustrated textbook. As well as his many scientific achievements, Martin was an accomplished mountaineer, a dedicated churchgoer and an avid gardener. He saw no conflict between his science and his enduring Christian faith.
SALOME GLUECKSOHN-WAELSCH Papaioannou, Virginia E.
Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society,
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Salome Gluecksohn-Waelsch was a pioneer in establishing the field of mammalian developmental genetics, bringing together experimental embryology and genetics at a time when the role of genes in ...development was far from accepted. She studied in Germany in the 1930s with the renowned experimental embryologist Hans Spemann and then moved to New York City where she spent her entire professional career at Columbia University and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. Her career was remarkable not only for its longevity—she continued experiments well into her 90s—but also for ushering in new ways of approaching developmental biology in mammals. In her studies of the T-complex in mice, she made use of naturally occurring mutations as nature’s own experiments that allowed the investigation of the normal role of the genes in the events of morphogenesis. In her later work with the albino chromosomal deletions, she extended her studies to the genetics of physiological traits. Throughout the decades that saw a blossoming of the entire field of genetics, Salome Gluecksohn-Waelsch’s work tackling some of the most perplexing problems in mammalian genetics firmly established the mouse as model organism, not only for studying development, but also for the eventual application of molecular biology techniques to development. Her published work is a beautifully coherent and rigorous opus, for which she received many honours. Her influence on a generation of geneticists, developmental biologists and the field of developmental genetics was profound.
The life of Salome Gluecksohn–Waelsch spanned a century that suffered the destructive upheaval of two world wars but also saw phenomenal progress in the sciences, including embryology and genetics. At the start of Salome’s career, these two fields were far apart and developmental genetics was barely a concept. Along with a few other pioneers, Salome was instrumental in establishing that genes actually had roles in development and in founding the field of mammalian developmental genetics. Her career laid the ground work for the eventual integration of genetic and developmental studies through molecular biology.
Salome Gluecksohn–Waelsch published under four different names at different stages of her life and career: Salome Glücksohn, Salome Gluecksohn–Schoenheimer, Salome Gluecksohn–Waelsch, and Salome G. Waelsch. Among her colleagues and friends, she was almost universally known as Salome and so for the purpose of this biographical memoir, I have chosen to refer to her by her first name, out of friendship and respect.
SIR DAVID CECIL SMITH Douglas, Angela E.
Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society,
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67
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David Smith was an international authority in the biological discipline of symbiosis and an influential leader in academic life. Through his work on photosynthetic symbioses in lichens and ...invertebrate animals, David transformed the field of symbiosis from a study of taxonomy and morphology into an experimental science. In particular, he applied novel radiotracer techniques to demonstrate that lichens are metabolically dynamic, with photosynthetically-fixed carbon transferred from symbionts to lichen host at high rates. His subsequent study of diverse symbioses led him to develop common principles underlying symbioses, including the regulated transfer of metabolites between partners and the role of ecological processes of colonization and community assembly in the establishment of symbioses. In his academic service, David had multiple leadership roles, including head of the Department of Botany at University of Bristol (1974–1980), head of the Department of Agricultural Science at University of Oxford (1980–1987), principal of University of Edinburgh (1987–1994) and president of Wolfson College, University of Oxford (1994–2000). David was biological secretary of the Royal Society (1983–1987) and he was knighted in 1986.
ALAN CYRIL WALKER Hlusko, Leslea J.; Ungar, Peter S.
Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society,
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Colleagues often refer to Alan Walker as the Eric Clapton (one of the most influential musicians of the late twentieth century) of palaeoanthropology in recognition of the artistry of his science. ...His field discoveries filled major gaps in our knowledge of primate evolution, such as elucidating the Miocene world of Proconsul and finding the transitional ‘Black Skull’ of Australopithecus aethiopicus and the skeleton of a Homo erectus boy. In addition to discovering these remarkable fossils, Alan was essential in bringing a palaeobiological approach to the laboratory interpretation of their bony morphology. He used the relationships between form and function in living species as a baseline for understanding the past, he pioneered dental microwear analysis to infer diet and was an early-adopter of the use of microCT to explore the internal structure of primate ear bones. Beyond these scientific accomplishments, however, it was Alan’s grace and generosity that truly set him apart from his peers. As the patriarch of an extensive intellectual family of students, postdocs and colleagues, Alan taught by example how to be intellectually creative, brave, meticulous, generous and kind. His legacy will long be felt in both the science and the culture of palaeoanthropology.
JOHN NEWSOM-DAVIS Vincent, Angela
Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society,
12/2019, Letnik:
67
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John Newsom-Davis (‘JND’) was a neurologist who played an important role in the discovery of the causes of, and treatments for, myasthenia gravis (MG), and of other diseases of the nerve–muscle ...junction. He started his career at the National Hospital in London, becoming director of the Batten Unit there, with an interest in respiratory physiology. He began to work on MG in collaboration with Ricardo Miledi (FRS 1970) at University College London and in 1978, after performing the first study on plasma exchange in that disease, he established an MG research group at the Royal Free Hospital, subsequently identifying the role of the thymus in this disease and demonstrating an autoimmune basis for the Lambert–Eaton myasthenic syndrome and ‘seronegative’ myasthenia. He was awarded the first Medical Research Council Clinical Research Professorship in 1979 but moved to Oxford in 1987 when he was elected Action Research Professor of Neurology. While at Oxford he continued to run a very successful multidisciplinary group, and began the molecular work that identified the genetic basis for many forms of congenital myasthenic syndrome. He also helped to establish the Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain (FMRIB) Centre. Meanwhile he was also involved in university and college governance and contributed widely to the Medical Research Council, government committees, and the Association of British Neurologists (ABN). Among many honours, he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1996 and made a Foreign Associate Member of the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine) in the USA in 2001. Following retirement from Oxford, he was President of the ABN and Editor of Brain, and led a National Institutes of Health-funded international trial of thymectomy.
ANTHONY WILLIAM LINNANE Nagley, Phillip
Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society,
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Anthony (Tony) Linnane isolated mitochondria from bakers’ yeast during his doctoral studies at the University of Sydney in the 1950s. He subsequently pioneered research into the biogenesis of ...mitochondria, covering enzymology, membrane biochemistry and molecular biology and genetics, over more than two decades until the mid 1980s. These discoveries were made mostly at Monash University and earned him election as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA 1972) and of the Royal Society (1980). Linnane thereafter broadened his research towards medical topics, especially the role of mitochondria in human ageing, together with studies on interferon and cancer-specific mucinous antigens. After retirement from Monash in 1996, Linnane worked towards ameliorating disease through bioenergetic strategies, based at the Centre for Molecular Biology and Medicine in Melbourne. He played significant roles in the Australian Biochemical Society and the International Union of Biochemistry.
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