Thomas Charles Buckland McLeish (1 May 1962 – 27 February 2023) was a British

theoretical physicist Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experime ...

. His work is renowned for increasing understanding of the properties of soft matter. This is a matter that can be easily changed by

stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...

– including liquids,

foam Foams are materials formed by trapping pockets of gas in a liquid or solid. A bath sponge and the head on a glass of beer are examples of foams. In most foams, the volume of gas is large, with thin films of liquid or solid separating the ...

s and biological materials. He was a professor in the

Durham University Department of Physics The Department of Physics at Durham University in Durham, England, is a physics and astronomy department involved in both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and scientific research. Durham has the largest group working on particle theory i ...

and director of the Durham Centre for Soft Matter, a multidisciplinary team that works across physics, chemistry, mathematics and engineering. He also was the first Chair of Natural Philosophy at the University of York.

Early life and education

McLeish was born on 1 May 1962. He was educated at

Sevenoaks School Sevenoaks School is a highly selective coeducational independent school in Sevenoaks, Kent, England. It is the second oldest non-denominational school in the United Kingdom, dating back to 1432, only behind Oswestry (1407). Over 1,000 day pupils ...

in Kent and Emmanuel College, Cambridge where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1984 (MA, 1987) and a PhD in 1987 for research on fluid dynamics.

Academic career

McLeish began his academic career as a lecturer in physics at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

(1989 to 1993). He then moved to the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, where he was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of Polymer Physics between 1993 and 2008. He was a Professor of Physics at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

from 2008 to 2018. He was additionally Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research between 2008 and 2014. In February 2018, McLeish moved to the University of York to take up the newly created Chair in

Natural Philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe. It was dominant before the development of modern science. From the ancient wo ...

Research

Although McLeish's work was mostly theoretical, he also worked closely with those performing experiments and in industry. He made significant advances in modelling the structure and properties of complex entangled molecules, blends of substances that don't usually mix (

multiphasic liquid A multiphasic liquid is a mixture consisting of more than two immiscible liquid phases. Biphasic mixtures consisting of two immiscible phases are very common and usually consist of an organic solvent and an aqueous phase ("oil and water"). Multip ...

s like oil and water - see

reptation A peculiarity of thermal motion of very long linear macromolecules in ''entangled'' polymer melts or concentrated polymer solutions is reptation. Derived from the word reptile, reptation suggests the movement of entangled polymer chains as bein ...

and

crazing Crazing is the phenomenon that produces a network of fine cracks on the surface of a material, for example in a glaze layer. Crazing frequently precedes fracture in some glassy thermoplastic polymers. As it only takes place under tensile stress, ...

). This allows complex fluid behaviour and processing in an industrial setting to be more easily predicted. Since 2000 he worked on biological physics: applying soft matter physics to the self-assembly of protein fibrils, protein fluctuation dynamics and its role in allosteric signalling, and statistical mechanics approaches to evolution. he had published around 200 papers in peer reviewed scientific journals.

Personal life

In 1984, McLeish married Julie Elizabeth King. Together they had four children: two sons and two daughters. McLeish's other interests included historical studies of

medieval science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal. Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Meso ...

, and he was a member of the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies at Durham. In 1993, he became a lay preacher in the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

, delivering sermons at

St Michael le Belfrey, York St Michael le Belfrey is an Anglican church in York, England. It is situated at the junction of High Petergate and Minster Yard, directly opposite York Minster, in the centre of the city. History The present church building was built between ...

. In 2014, he published a book on the

relationship between religion and science The relationship between religion and science involves discussions that interconnect the study of the natural world, history, philosophy, and theology. Even though the ancient and medieval worlds did not have conceptions resembling the modern u ...

called ''Faith and Wisdom in Science''. McLeish died on 27 February 2023, at the age of 60. A service of memorial and thanksgiving was held at York Minster Cathedral on 27 April 2023, a recording of which is available on the cathedral's YouTube channel.

Honours

McLeish was made a

Fellow of the Institute of Physics Fellowship of the Institute of Physics (FInstP) is "the highest level of membership attainable" by physicists who are members of the Institute of Physics (IoP), "for those with a degree in physics or related subject (or equivalent knowledge gained ...

(FInstP) in 2003,Tom McLeish's and a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) is an award conferred by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in the United Kingdom. FRSC award Achieving Fellow status in the chemical profession denotes to the wider community a high level of ...

(FRSC) in 2008. In 2011, he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

(FRS), the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with State (polity), state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but ...

of the sciences. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: In 2007, McLeish was awarded the Weissenberg medal by the European Society of Rheology. This is awarded to rheologists conducting research in Europe for outstanding, long-term achievements. McLeish also received the Society of Rheology's Bingham Medal in 2010. In 2017, McLeish received the

Sam Edwards Medal and Prize The Institute of Physics awards numerous prizes to acknowledge contributions to physics research, education and applications. It also offers smaller specific subject-group prizes, such as for PhD thesis submissions. Bilateral awards * The Max B ...

for "his sustained and outstanding contributions to the fields of molecular rheology, macromolecular biophysics and self-assembly". In 2018, McLeish was awarded the Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship by the Archbishop of Canterbury "for his record as one of the most outstanding scientists of his generation, and the leading contemporary lay Anglican voice in the dialogue of science and faith". McLeish gave the 2021 Boyle Lecture (

International Society for Science and Religion The International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR) is a learned society established in 2001 for the purpose of the promotion of education through the support of inter-disciplinary learning and research in the fields of science and religion c ...

, ISSR) entitled "Rediscovering Science as Contemplation." A recording is available on the ISSR's YouTube channel.

Selected publications

* ''The Poetry and Music of Science: Comparing Creativity in Science and Art'' (2019) OXFORD University Press, * ''Soft Matter – An Emergent Interdisciplinary Science of Emergent Entities, Chapter 20 in The Routledge Handbook of Emergence'', (eds.) (2019) LONDON: Routledge, *''The Science and Religion Delusion: Towards a Theology of Science, in Knowing Creation - Perspectives from Philosophy, Theology and Science Eds.'' (2018) Zondervan Academic, * ''Faith and Wisdom in Science'' (2016) OXFORD University Press,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McLeish, Thomas 1962 births 2023 deaths Deaths from pancreatic cancer Academics of Durham University Academics of the University of Cambridge Academics of the University of Sheffield Academics of the University of York Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge British Anglicans British theoretical physicists Fellows of the American Physical Society Fellows of the Institute of Physics Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry Writers about religion and science Academics of the University of Leeds