The Life and Scientific Legacy of George Porter

Sir George Porter (Lord Porter of Luddenham) was one of the most highly regarded and well known scientists in Britain. He was appointed Director of the Royal Institution in 1996, awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1967, and was the only Director of the Royal Institution to later become President [...]
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Sir George Porter (Lord Porter of Luddenham) was one of the most highly regarded and well known scientists in Britain. He was appointed Director of the Royal Institution in 1996, awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1967, and was the only Director of the Royal Institution to later become President of the Royal Society (1988-1990). Porter had a marvellous gift for communicating his infectious enthusiasm for science, and as President of the Royal Society, he worked hard to improve the status of science, and employed his communication skills ably in the defence of British science under attack from inadequate government funding, of which he was fiercely critical. It was for his work on flash photolysis in Cambridge that ultimately led him to win the Nobel Prize. Together with Ronald Norrish and Manfred Eigen, he shared the 1967 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, for their work on techniques for observing and studying extremely fast chemical reactions during the processes of combustion, explosion and chain reaction.In this volume, his peers, former colleagues, students and friends - themselves highly regarded and well known scientists in their own right - come together to honour and celebrate the enormous contributions of this man. They comment on their respective personal and working relationships with Porter and on his work. The contributors include: Mary Archer, James Barber, Godfrey Beddard, Graham Fleming, Michael George, Anthony Harriman, David Klug, Harry Kroto, Edward Land, A J MacRobert, David Phillips, Martyn Poliakoff, F Sherwood Rowland, Brian Thrush, George Truscott, James Turner, Barry Ward, Frank Wilkinson, Keitaro Yoshihara, and Ahmed Zewail.