J. D. Bernal: The Sage of ScienceJ. D. Bernal, known as 'Sage', was an extraordinary man and multifaceted character. A scientist of dazzling intellectual ability and a leading figure in the development of X-ray crystallography, he was a polymath, a fervent Marxist, and much admired worldwide. Although he himself never won a Nobel Prize, several of his distinguished students went on to do so, including Dorothy Hodgkin, Max Perutz, and Aaron Klug. Andrew Brown has had unprecedented access to Bernal's papers and diaries, and this biography includes previously unpublished material on Bernal's role during the Second World War. Bernal not only changed the course of science, but was witness to (and often a participant in) historical events (the Easter Rebellion, the Great Strike, the anti-fascist movement and pacifist causes, civil defence, RAF bombing strategy, the planning for D-Day, post-war rebuilding, and nuclear weapons). One of the few men familiar with Downing Street, the White House and the Kremlin, he left fascinating accounts of Churchill, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Louis Mountbatten and Picasso, as well as the century's greatest scientists. Brown's compelling account covers all aspects of Bernal's brilliant, colourful, and Bohemian life, and introduces this towering figure of early 20th century science to a wide audience. |
Contents
1 A Long Way to Go | 1 |
2 Cambridge Undergraduate | 22 |
3 Bohemian Crystallographer | 46 |
4 Science Fantasy | 65 |
5 The New Kingdom | 78 |
6 Soviet Pilgrims | 103 |
7 The Shadow of the Hawks Wings | 119 |
8 The Entertainment of the Scientist | 137 |
14 Rebuilding | 274 |
15 Central Dogma | 298 |
16 Peace at Any Price? | 318 |
17 The Physical Basis of Life | 342 |
18 History and the Origins of Life | 363 |
19 Marxist Envoy | 383 |
20 Peacebroking | 412 |
21 Order and Disorder | 435 |
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American amino acids asked Astbury atomic Author’s interview beach Bernal thought biology Birkbeck Blackett bomb Bragg British Cambridge chemistry Cherwell Churchill COHQ College Committee communist conference Crick crystal crystallography cyclol defence Desmond diary difficult diffraction Dorothy Dorothy Hodgkin Eileen Fankuchen field figure final find findings fire first five flat flew German Habbakuk Haldane Helen Megaw Hodgkin Ibid ideas influence J.D. Bernal JDB Papers John Desmond Bernal Kendrew Khrushchev Klug laboratory lecture Letter to ID London Lysenko Margaret Gardiner Max Perutz meeting molecular molecules Moscow Mountbatten Nature nuclear Office officers official organic Oxford Patrick Blackett peace Perutz photographs physics Pirie political problem Professor protein Pyke Pykrete raids reflected Royal Society Sage Sage’s scientific scientists seemed Solly Zuckerman Soviet Union staff Stalin structure suggested talk Tizard told took University USSR virus weapons wrote X-ray X-ray crystallography X—ray Zuckerman