| Authorised form of name | Calladine; Christopher Reuben (1935-2025); engineer |
| Dates | 1935-2025 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom |
| Date of birth | 19 January 1935 |
| Place of death | Cambrdige, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom |
| Date of death | 03 August 2025 |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Research field | Structural biology |
| Structural mechanics |
| Biophysics |
| Materials Science |
| Engineering |
| Activity | Education: Nottingham High School; Peterhouse, Cambridge BA (1956); Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computation Centre, U.S.A, MA (1958)
Career:
Research Assistant in Structures, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computation Centre, U.S.A (1958); University Demonstrator in the Cambridge Department of Engineering (1960); University Lectureship (1963) and Readership (1978); visiting Research Associate, Brown University (1963); Visiting Professor of Applied Mechanics, Stanford University (1969-70); Professor of Structural Mechanics, University Engineering Laboratory, Peterhouse, University of Cambridge (1986-2002); Emeritus Professor of Structural Mechanics, University Engineering Laboratory, Peterhouse, University of Cambridge (2002-2025).
Memberships:
Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering
EMF Biological Research Trust
Awards/Medals:
James Alfred Ewing Medal, Institution of Civil Engineers 1998 |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 15/03/1984 |
| Age at election | 49 |
| RSActivity | Council 2000-2002 |
| Relationships | Parents: Reuben and Mabel Calladine.
Siblings: Anne Calladine (b. 1930).
Spouse: (m. 1964) Mary R.H. Webb, who became a General Practitioner in Cambridge.
Children: One daughter and two sons. |
| PublishedWorks | RCN 13797
RCN 13203
RCN 13798 |
| OtherInfo | Conducted significant work in several areas of structural mechanics. He made important contributions to both the elastic and plastic analysis and design of shell structures, to the prediction of the creep behaviour of structures, to the buckling of certain structures, and to the field of the mechanical properties of saturated clay soils.
He clarified Maxwell's rule for the construction of rigid frameworks from rods and simple joints, and advanced methods for the design and analysis of cable net and deployable structures. He also applied his expertise to biological structures at a molecular scale, carrying out a mechanical analysis of the construction of helical bacterial flagella in terms of a ‘mechanically bistable’ subunit.
produced a radical, direct explanation of the frequently overlooked empirical observation that in the axial compression of thin-walled cylindrical shells, the stress-level at which buckling occurs is proportional to the 1.5 power of thickness. The key element in this analysis is an appreciation of the role of the 'dimple' in the mechanics of thin-walled structure buckling. |
| Related images | Discover a selection of related images in our picture library |
| Source | The Royal Society Fellows Directory, Professor Christopher Calladine FREng FRS [URL: https://royalsociety.org/people/christopher-calladine-11180/; last accessed: 09/09/2025]
Peterhouse University of Cambridge, Professor Christopher Calladine (1935-2025), 6 August 2025, [URL: https://www.pet.cam.ac.uk/news/professor-christopher-calladine-1935-2025; last accessed: 09/09/2025]
References:
Sir John Meurig Thomas, 'Peterhouse, the Royal Society and molecular biology' in NR 2000 vol 54 pp 369-385 |
| Code | NA7878 |