Max Perutz

On 25 March 2014 a set of postage stamps was issued showing portraits of 10 people born in 1914. One of these was for Max Perutz, born in Austria, who fled to England to escape the Nazis. He was an enthusiastic skier and studied the structure of glaciers. He worked in Cambridge and was advised to study the structure of Haemoglobin by Lawrence Bragg,

He became Chairman of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge and worked with John Kendrew with whom he was awarded a Nobel prize in 1962 for showing how X-ray crystallography can be used to determine protein structures. He won the Lewis Thomas prize for his writings on science. He was happy to try to encourage young people to take an interest in science and willing to present prizes to the school children winners of the 'Crystal Growing Competition' organised by the British Crystallographic Association.

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Georgina Ferry wrote his biography, "Max Perutz and the secret of Life"
reviewed by Derry Jones in History of Physics Group newsletter no 23 page 61.

Pgae last updated 31 August 2014