Record

Authorised form of nameBernal; John Desmond (1901 - 1971)
Dates1901 - 1971
NationalityBritish
Date of birth10/05/1901
Date of death15/09/1971
Research fieldCrystallography
ActivityEducation:
Stonyhurst College (1911-1912); Bedford School; Emmanuel College, Cambridge University (matriculated 1919)
Career:
Assistant Director of Research in Crystallography, Cambridge; research work with Sir William Bragg, Royal Institution, (1923-1927); Lecturer in Crystallography, Cambridge (1927-1934); Science Advisor (during World War 2); Birkbeck College, London. Though a specialist in crystallography, he had a wide scientific range, extending as far as biochemistry.
A Communist, awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1953
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election06/05/1937
Age at election35
Royal Society activityMedals and prizes:
Royal Medal 1945
Lectures:
Bakerian 1962
SourcesSources:
Bulloch's Roll
Obituaries:
Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 1980 vol 26 pp 17-84, plate, by Dorothy M C Hodgkin
References:
Roy S Porter, 'Medical futures' (The Wilkins Lecture 2000) in NR 2001 vol 55 pp 325-329
Sir John Meurig Thomas, 'Peterhouse, the Royal Society and molecular biology' in NR 2000 vol 54 pp 369-385
Roy H W Johnston, 'J D Bernal, FRS: Some Irish Influences' in NR 1993 vol 47 pp 93-103
Ann Synge, 'J D Bernal, FRS: Family, School and University' in NR 1992 vol 46 pp 267-278, plate
Anne Cooke, 'Shedding light on the enigmatic Rosalind Franklin. Rosalind Franklin - the dark lady of DNA, by B Maddox' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 239-243
W Hayes, 'Physics as well as poetry. Physicists of Ireland, edited by M McCartney and A Whitaker' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 245-246
R Singh and F Riess, 'The nobel laureate Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman FRS and his contacts with the British Scientific community in a social and political context' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 47-64
Royal Society codeNA8040
Archives associated with this Fellow
Reference numberTitleDate
PB/8/6/8'Science for peace. Synopsis'nd
PB/3/2/1/15/3/3Correspondence with John Desmond Bernal1958-1959
PB/8/6/7Papers and talks on science and society by others, collected by Blackett, many annotated by him.c.1943-1945
PB/9/1/11Correspondence re John Desmond Bernal 1963-1964, 1971
PB/4/8/43Correspondence with Reginald Stradling on Bernal's report on effects of air raids 1942
PB/3/2/1/18/10/5Correspondence with John Desmond Bernal re Blackett's Climatology paperc.1961
PB/1/33/4/1President of the Royal Society1965
PB/5/3/6/2'Comments on Background Papers'1963
PB/5/2/3Meeting and drafts of 'Science and the Labour Party'1958
PB/1/34/1Letters of congratulation on Blackett's Life Peerage1969
PB/4/9/2/1'Notes on Future Armament Policy. TWC' (Tizard Weapons Committee)c.1945
IM/000344Bernal, John Desmond1938
IM/000345Bernal, John Desmond1935
PB/6/2/4/2Folder inscribed 'Royal Society Evidence to Trend Committee'1962
RR/61/47Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'Crystal growth from solutions' by W F BergSeptember 1937
RR/63/13Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The thermoelastic properties of muscle and their molecular interpretation' by K H Meyer and L E R PickenJune 1937
RR/65/261Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The submicroscopic structure of dental enamel' by J ThewlisDecember 1938
RR/61/6Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'Preparation of single crystal wires of metals of high melting point' by Edward Neville Da Costa AndradeJuly 1937
RR/63/115Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The glide of single crystals of molybdenum' by L C Tsien and Y S ChowJuly 1937
RR/61/5Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The glide of single crystals of sodium and potassium' by Edward Neville Da Costa Andrade and L C TsienJuly 1937
RR/64/34Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'Slip bands on mercury single crystals' by K M Greenland[July 1937]
RR/64/35Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The critical shear stress of mercury single crystals' by K M Greenland[July 1937]
RR/61/101Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The crystal structure of insulin. I. The investigation of air-dried insulin crystals' by Dorothy Mary Crowfoot HodgkinDecember 1937
RR/67/20Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The crystal structure of Rochelle salt (sodium potassium tartrate tetrahydrate NaKC4H4O6. 4H2O)' by C A Beevers and W Hughes1940
RR/66/141Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'X -ray crystal analysis of trans-azobenzene' by J J De Lange, John Monteath Robertson and Ida Woodward[March 1939]
RR/68/237Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The structure of graphite' by Henry Solomon Lipson and A R Stokes[1942]
RR/72/88Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The effect of thermal cycles on the structure of alloys: diffusion effects in two phase alloys' by Roger John Davis and William Hume-Rothery1949
RR/68/259Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'Structure and thermal properties of crystals. V. Thermal expansion of phthalocyanines and porphins' by Alfred Rene Jean Paul Ubbelohde and Ida Woodward[1942]
RR/68/26Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'Molecular structure and rubber-like elasticity II. The stereochemistry of chain polymers' by Charles William Bunn[1941]
RR/68/27Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'Molecular structure and rubber-like elasticity - III. Molecular movements in rubber-like polymers' by Charles William Bunn[1941]
RR/68/268Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The reflexion of X-rays from the ‘anti-phase nuclei’ of AuCu3' by Arthur James Cochran Wilson[1942]
RR/68/249Letter from John Desmond Bernal, to John David Griffith Davies, regarding a paper 'The crystal structure of 4:4'-dinitrodiphenyl [C12H8(NO2)2]' by J N Van Niekerk6 May 1942
RR/69/204Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'Experiments on the inactivation of bacteriophage by radiations, and their bearing on the nature of bacteriophage' by D E Lea and M H Salaman 1945
RR/70/14Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The lattice spacings of solid solutions of different elements in aluminium' by H J Axon and William Hume-Rothery1947
RR/71/71Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The structure and properties of the alloy Cu2MnIn' by Bryan Randell Coles, William Hume-Rothery and H P Myers[1948]
NLB/70/551Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to [John Desmond] Bernal Esq.; Royal Institution17 May 1927
IM/000342Bernal, John Desmondnd
EC/1937/01Bernal, John Desmond: certificate of election to the Royal Society
HWT/24/6/29Correspondence and papers regarding exchanges, non observance by USSR of International Copyright Conventions and death of J D BernalSeptember - October 1971
IM/000346Bernal, John Desmond1935
IM/000343Bernal, John Desmond1932
RR/68/25Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'Molecular structure and rubber-like elasticity I. The crystal structures of ß gutta-percha, rubber and polychloroprene' by Charles William Bunn[April 1941]
PB/4/9Chiefs of Staff Sub-Committee On Future Weapons1945
PB/9/1/64Correspondence with Reginald Jones and others1960-1963
MS/916Lecture notes by Gordon Elliott Fogg1938-1946
RR/66/26Referee's report by William Henry Bragg, on a paper 'X-Ray crystallography and the chemistry of the steroids. Part I' by John Desmond Bernal, Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin and I Fankuchen[April 1940]
RR/66/25Referee's report by Ian Morris Heilbron, on a paper 'X-Ray crystallography and the chemistry of the steroids. Part I' by John Desmond Bernal, Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin and I Fankuchen15 May 1940
NLB/66/878Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to [Robert John Strutt] Lord Rayleigh, FRS1 August 1924
RR/61/88Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'Structure of stretched rubber' by C J B Clews and F SchoszbergerAugust 1937
RR/64/74Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The measurement of particle size by the X-ray method' by Frederic Wood Jones[November 1937]
RR/68/23Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on three papers 'Molecular structure and rubber-like elasticity I. The crystal structures of ß gutta-percha, rubber and polychloroprene', 'Molecular structure and rubber-like elasticity II. The stereochemistry of chain polymers' and 'Molecular structure and rubber-like elasticity - III. Molecular movements in rubber-like polymers' by Charles William Bunn[1941]
RR/65/174Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'Evidence on spiral structure and chromosome pairing in osmunda regalis L' by Irene Manton1938
RR/65/214Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The structure of the walls of parenchyma in avena coleoptiles' by Reginald Dawson PrestonMarch 1938
RR/79/74Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The persistence of crystal axes in a thermal transformation' by S W Kennedy, Alfred Rene Ubbelohde and Ida Woodward4 May 1953
RR/79/99Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'Melting and crystal structure. The mechanism of melting of group I nitrates' by W J Davis, S E Rogers and Alfred Rene Jean Ubbelohde28 May 1953
RR/79/138Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'Melting and crystal structure. The onset of 'rotation' on melting' by A A K Al-Mahdi and Alfred Rene Jean Paul Ubbelohde14 July 1953
RR/79/167Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'A neutron diffraction study of KH2PO4 by Fourier synthesis' by G E Bacon and R S Pease15 July 1953
RR/79/217Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The hydrogen bond in crystals. IX. The isotope effect in acetylenedicarboxylic acid dihydrate' by K J Gallagher, Alfred Rene Jean Paul Ubbelohde and Ida Woodward2 September 1953
RR/79/231Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The structure of haemoglobin. II' by William Lawrence Bragg, E R Howells and Max Ferdinand Perutz[November 1953]
RR/79/272Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The strength properties and frictional behaviour of brittle solids' by R F King and David Tabor6 November 1953
RR/73/299Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The spontaneous magnetization of cobalt' by H P Myers and Willie Sucksmith1950
RR/73/307Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'Piezocrescence - The growth of dauphine twinning in quartz under stress' by E A Thomas and W A Wooster8 January 1951
RR/75/61Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'Crystallite growth in graphitising and non-graphitising carbons' by Rosalind E Franklin15 March 1951
RR/75/75Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'The valencies of the transition elements in the metallic state' by William Hume-Rothery and H M Irving and R J P Williams[1951]
RR/75/309Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'Three-dimensional diffraction theory microscope image formation' by A R Stokes[1951]
RR/77/107Referee's report by John Desmond Bernal, on a paper 'An experimental X-ray shadow microscope' by V E Cosslett and W C Nixon12 June 1952
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