Sir John Turton Randall
John RandallRandall, in his role as Wheatstone Professor of Physics at King's College London, was responsible for setting up the Medical Research Council Biophysics Unit that pioneered x-ray analysis of the DNA molecule under the supervision of Maurice Wilkins.
His early career was spent at the University of Birmingham and it was here that in 1940 he collaborated with Harry Boot on the development of the cavity magnetron, which was a type of vacuum tube crucial to improving the performance of radar for the war effort.
John Randall and colleaguesRandall proved an inspirational leader at King's, fostering a collegial and 'democratic' working environment among a team of talented young researchers.
He was willing to take research in radically new directions, initiating research into DNA, and the structure of collagen and muscle fibre, among other projects.
The Biophysics Unit was later renamed in his honour and is today remembered in the title of the Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics.
In this exhibition
- Early work at King's
- Key individuals
- Sir John Turton Randall (1905-1984)
- Maurice Wilkins (1916-2004)
- Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958)
- Alexander Stokes (1919-2003)
- Herbert Wilson (1929-2008)
- Raymond Gosling (1926-2015)
- Key discoveries
- Further work at King's
- Background