Walter Gratzer

Walter Bruno Gratzer (20 September 1932 – 20 October 2021) was a German-born British biophysical chemist.[1]

He was professor of biophysical chemistry at King's College London[2] and an author and reviewer of popular science. He was the first Nature news correspondent appointed by editor John Maddox.[3] Oliver Sacks of Nature writes that his reviews have high literary quality and show knowledge of a wide range of topics.[4] He was a friend of James D. Watson, and wrote the introduction and afterword of his A Passion for DNA.[5]

Gratzer received his BA in chemistry in 1954 and his MA in 1958 from the University of Oxford, and his PhD in 1960 from the National Institute for Medical Research. He was a research fellow at Harvard University 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.[6] He died in London on 20 October 2021.[7]

  1. ^ Ferry, Georgina (10 November 2021). "Walter Gratzer obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. ^ Gratzer, W. (2011). "Biophysics - whence, whither, wherefore - or Hold that hyphen". BMC Biology. 9: 12. doi:10.1186/1741-7007-9-12. PMC 3055213. PMID 21371341.
  3. ^ Gratzer, W. (2009). "Obituary: John Maddox (1925–2009)". Nature. 458 (7241): 983–984. doi:10.1038/458983a. PMID 19396135..
  4. ^ Sacks, Oliver. "Bringing scientists to life", Nature 419: 786, 24 October 2002, accessed 10 November 2010. (subscription required) doi:10.1038/419786a.
  5. ^ Friedberg, Errol C. (2005). The Writing Life of James D. Watson, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, p. 111. ISBN 0-87969-700-8.
  6. ^ "Professor Walter Gratzer", King's College London, accessed 7 November 2010. Archived by WebCite on 7 November 2010.
  7. ^ "Walter Gratzer obituary". The Guardian. 10 November 2021. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023.