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British physicist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alexander Rawson Stokes (27 June 1919 – 6 February 2003) was a British physicist at Royal Holloway College, London and later at King's College London.[1][2] He was most recognised as a co-author of the second[3] of the three papers published sequentially in Nature on 25 April 1953[4] describing the correct molecular structure of DNA. The first was authored by Francis Crick and James Watson,[5] and the third by Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling.
Alec Stokes | |
---|---|
Born | Alexander Rawson Stokes 27 June 1919 Macclesfield, England |
Died | 5 February 2003 83) | (aged
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
Known for | Molecular structure of DNA |
Spouse | Margaret Stokes |
Children | 2 sons and 1 daughter |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Physics, biophysics |
Institutions | Royal Holloway College, London King's College London |
Thesis | Imperfect Crystals (1944) |
Doctoral advisor | Lawrence Bragg |
Other academic advisors | John Randall |
In 1993, on the 40th anniversary of the publication of the molecular structure of DNA, a plaque was erected in the Quad (courtyard) of the Strand campus of King's College London, commemorating the contributions of Franklin, Gosling, Stokes, Wilson, and Wilkins to "DNA X-ray diffraction studies".
Known by the name Alec,[6][7][8] Stokes was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire. He studied at Cheadle Hulme School in Manchester. He received a first-class degree in the natural science tripos in 1940 at Trinity College, Cambridge and then researched X-ray crystallography of Imperfect Crystals for his PhD in 1943 under the supervision of Lawrence Bragg at the Cavendish Laboratory.[9][10]
Stokes lectured in physics at Royal Holloway College, London before joining John Randall's Biophysics Research Unit at King's College London in 1947. He has been credited[9][11] as being the first person to demonstrate that the DNA molecule was probably helical in shape. Maurice Wilkins wrote in his autobiography[12] that he asked Stokes to predict what a helical structure would look like as an x-ray diffraction photograph, and that he was able to determine this by the next day through mathematical calculations made during a short train journey. Stokes continued to work on optical diffraction in large biological molecules. His publications include the books The Theory of the Optical Properties of Inhomogeneous Materials. London: E. and F.N. Spon Ltd, (1963) and The Principles of Atomic and Nuclear Physics C.J. Smith and A.R. Stokes, London, Edward Arnold, (1972) ISBN 0-7131-2313-3.[1]
Stokes retired from King's College London as a senior lecturer in 1982. He was a choral singer, played the piano and was an elder in his local free church, in Welwyn Garden City.[13] He died on 5 February 2003,[1] survived by his wife, Margaret, two sons, Gordon Stokes and Ian Stokes and a daughter, Jean Stokes.[9]
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