William Thomas Astbury

William Astbury (1898-1961) was trained as a physicist, but throughout his working life refused to accept the artificial barriers put in place between the sciences. He believed that in order to investigate the building blocks of life, the distinct disciplines of chemistry, physics and biology had to work together. Thus, while he achieved some success with his purely physical contributions to X-ray crystallography techniques, and their applications in the textile industry, he also played a major role in the foundations of molecular biology.

Astbury began his career as a crystallographer at the Royal Institution, where he developed new photographic techniques and apparatus, and contributed to the development of the International Tables, still in use today. After he moved to Leeds, and began studying the fibrous proteins, his work became relevant to both the textile industry and biology. Whilst contributing scientifically in both these areas, Astbury also played the role of a campaigner, successfully promoting his outlook on numerous issues, particularly the integration of the separate sciences with each other and with technology.

An introduction

• History of X-ray Crystallography
• Biography of Astbury

Astbury's work

• Crystallographic Studies at the Royal Institution
• The International Tables
• Fibrous Studies at Leeds
• Astbury in retrospect by Dr. John Lydon

Wider issues in the history of molecular biology

• Technology vs. Science
• Astbury's Apparatus
• The X-ray contribution to the History of Molecular Genetics

And also...

• Glossary of Scientific Terms
• Bibliography
• The Astbury Collection at Leeds

by Imogen Clarke