Walter Bruno Gratzer (20 September 1932 – 20 October 2021) was a German-born British
biophysical chemist.
He was professor of biophysical chemistry at
King's College London and an author and reviewer of popular science. He was the first ''
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
'' news correspondent appointed by editor
John Maddox
Sir John Royden Maddox, FRS (27 November 1925 – 12 April 2009) was a Welsh theoretical chemist, turned physicist, and science writer. He was an editor of ''Nature'' for 22 years, from 1966 to 1973 and 1980 to 1995.
Education and early ...
. Oliver Sacks of ''Nature'' writes that his reviews have high literary quality and show knowledge of a wide range of topics.
[Sacks, Oliver]
"Bringing scientists to life"
''Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
'' 419: 786, 24 October 2002, accessed 10 November 2010. . He was a friend of
James D. Watson
James Dewey Watson (born April 6, 1928) is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he co-authored with Francis Crick the academic paper proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. Watson, Crick and ...
, and wrote the introduction and afterword of his ''A Passion for DNA''.
Gratzer received his BA in chemistry in 1954 and his MA in 1958 from the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
, and his PhD in 1960 from the
National Institute for Medical Research
The National Institute for Medical Research (commonly abbreviated to NIMR), was a medical research institute based in Mill Hill, on the outskirts of north London, England. It was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC);
In 2016, the NIMR b ...
. He was a research fellow at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
from 1960 to 1963, a lecturer in biophysics at King's from 1963 to 1966, and worked at the
Medical Research Council from 1966 to 1996. He died in London on 20 October 2021.
Publications
Books
* ''The Longman Literary Companion to Science'' (1989) (editor)
* ''A Bedside Nature: Genius and Eccentricity in Science 1869–1953'' (1996)
* ''The Undergrowth of Science: Delusion, Self-Deception and Human Frailty'' (2000)
Google Books
* ''Eurekas and Euphorias: The Oxford Book of Scientific Anecdotes'' (2002)
004 004, 0O4, O04, OO4 may refer to:
* 004, fictional British 00 Agent
* 0O4, Corning Municipal Airport (California)
* O04, the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation
* Abdul Haq Wasiq, Guantanamo detainee 004
* Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engine
* Lauda Ai ...
br>
Google Books[
* ''Terrors of the Table: The Curious History of Nutrition'' (2005) 007br>Google Books]
* ''Giant Molecules: From Nylon to Nanotubes'' (2009)
Google Books
[Jones, Richard]
''Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
'' 464: 354, 18 March 2010, accessed 10 November 2010. .
Reviews
Review
of ''A Short History of Cardiology'' by Peter Fleming, '' London Review of Books'' 19 (13): 24, 3 July 1997, accessed 7 November 2010.
"''Per ardua ad'': Stockholm"
''Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
'' 393: 640641, 18 June 1998, accessed 10 November 2010. .
"Now you see it, now you don't"
''Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
'' 408: 24–25, 2 November 2000, accessed 10 November 2010. .
"A stranger in a strange land"
''Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
'' 424: 725, 14 August 2003, accessed 10 November 2010. .
Articles
*
* Gratzer, Walter
"Obituary: Maurice Wilkins (1916–2004)"
''Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
'' 431: 922, 21 October 2004, accessed 7 November 2010.
* Gratzer, Walter
"Nature — The Maddox Years"
''Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
'', accessed 7 November 2010. .
* Gratzer, Walter
"Embryologist in Eden, a review of ''The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom'' by Simon Winchester (2008), Harper Collins, New York "
''The FASEB Journal
''The FASEB Journal'' is a scientific journal related to experimental biosciences, promoting scientific progress and education. It is published by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
The Federation of American Socie ...
'' 22 (10): 3415–3416, 1 October 2008, accessed 7 November 2010
Archived
by WebCite
WebCite was an on-demand archive site, designed to digitally preserve scientific and educationally important material on the web by taking snapshots of Internet contents as they existed at the time when a blogger or a scholar cited or quoted ...
on 7 November 2010. .
* Gratzer, Walter. , ''ASBMB Today'', December 2009, pp. 15–17, accessed 7 November 2010
Archived
by WebCite
WebCite was an on-demand archive site, designed to digitally preserve scientific and educationally important material on the web by taking snapshots of Internet contents as they existed at the time when a blogger or a scholar cited or quoted ...
on 7 November 2010. See HTML versio
hereArchived
on 7 November 2010.
Academic papers
* Pinder, JC ''et al.'
"Actomyosin motor in the merozoite of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum: implications for red cell invasion"
''Journal of Cell Science
The ''Journal of Cell Science'' (formerly the ''Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science'') is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of cell biology. The journal is published by The Company of Biologists. The journal is partnered wit ...
'' 111 (13): 1831–1839, 1998, accessed 10 November 2010.
References
Further reading
* Ince, Martin
"No moos is good news"
''Times Higher Education
''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education.
Ownership
TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...
'', 1 March 1996, accessed 10 November 2010
Archived
by WebCite
WebCite was an on-demand archive site, designed to digitally preserve scientific and educationally important material on the web by taking snapshots of Internet contents as they existed at the time when a blogger or a scholar cited or quoted ...
on 10 November 2010.
* Mercer, Nick
"Serious Talk: Science and religion in dialogue"
''Third Way'' 19 (4): 27, May 1996.
* Barrow, John D. (1999) 000
Triple zero, Triple Zero, Zero Zero Zero, Triple 0, Triple-0, 000, or 0-0-0 may refer to:
* 000 (emergency telephone number), the Australian emergency telephone number
* "Triple Zero", a song by AFI from ''Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes''
* Th ...
br>''Between Inner Space and Outer Space: Essays on Science, Art, and Philosophy''
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, pp. 11–13. .
Perspective: Walter Gratzer
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
, 10 December 2002, accessed 10 November 2010
Archived
by WebCite
WebCite was an on-demand archive site, designed to digitally preserve scientific and educationally important material on the web by taking snapshots of Internet contents as they existed at the time when a blogger or a scholar cited or quoted ...
on 10 November 2010.
* Semenza, G.; Turner, A. J. (eds.) (2003)
''A History of Biochemistry: Selected Topics in the History of Biochemistry''
(volume 42), Elsevier
Elsevier () is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as '' The Lancet'', ''Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, '' Trends'', ...
. .
* Skern, Tim (2009)
''Writing Scientific English: A Workbook''
UTB (publisher), p. 174. .
"Eurekas and Euphorias: The Oxford Book of Scientific Anecdotes"
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, accessed 7 November 2010
Archived
by WebCite
WebCite was an on-demand archive site, designed to digitally preserve scientific and educationally important material on the web by taking snapshots of Internet contents as they existed at the time when a blogger or a scholar cited or quoted ...
on 7 November 2010.
External links
Webpage at King's College London
Reviews at the ''London Review of Books''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gratzer, Walter
1932 births
2021 deaths
Academics of King's College London
Alumni of the University of Oxford
20th-century British biologists
21st-century British biologists
British chemists
British male journalists
British science writers