William Astbury | |
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| Born | William Thomas Astbury 25 February 1898 Longton, England |
| Died | 4 June 1961 (aged 63) Leeds, England |
| Citizenship | British |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
| Known for | Beta sheet Fiber diffraction X-ray diffraction of DNA |
| Awards | Actonian Prize (1935) Croonian Medal (1945) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics, Molecular biology |
| Institutions | University College London Royal Institution University of Leeds |
| Doctoral advisor | William Henry Bragg[1] |
William Thomas Astbury FRS (25 February 1898 – 4 June 1961) was an English physicist and molecular biologist who made pioneering X-ray diffraction studies of biological molecules.[1] His work on keratin provided the foundation for Linus Pauling's discovery of the alpha helix. He also studied the structure for DNA in 1937 and made the first step in the elucidation of its structure.