Richard Watts-Tobin
| Richard Watts-Tobin | |
|---|---|
| Born | Richard John Watts-Tobin March 17, 1934 |
| April 26, 2016 (aged 82)April 26, 2016 (aged 82) | |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Co-author of the 1961 paper on the genetic code; contributions to generalized time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau theory |
Richard John Watts-Tobin (17 March 1934 – 26 April 2016)[1] was a British physicist known for his contributions to the theory of superconductivity and for his co-authorship of a landmark 1961 paper on the genetic code with Francis Crick and Sydney Brenner.
Scientific contributions
While still a graduate student [2], Watts-Tobin was a co-author of the influential 1961 Nature paper “General nature of the genetic code for proteins”, which provided key experimental evidence that the genetic code is based on triplets of nucleotides.[3] The work used genetic experiments in bacteriophage T4 to demonstrate that mutations affecting the reading frame supported a triplet coding system.[4] The paper has been described by Charles Yanofsky as a "landmark" study[5] and by Robin Holliday as "a masterpiece of genetic analysis".[6] The conclusion that the genetic code is a triplet code, as determined by Watts-Tobin and his co-authors, was later highlighted in Marshall Nirenberg’s 1968 Nobel lecture, which described how the 1961 genetic studies established this principle and how subsequent biochemical work confirmed it.[7]
Watts-Tobin also co-authored a subsequent 1967 study that extended the genetic analysis of frameshift mutations in the T4 rII system, further refining understanding of the structure and interpretation of the genetic code.[8] This work was described by Robin Holliday as involving a "tremendous amount of work" culminating in a detailed 70-page publication.[6]
Although trained as a mathematician and physicist, Watts-Tobin worked at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology during this period, contributing to experiments on mutagenesis and genetic coding alongside Brenner and Crick.[4]
Later in his career, Watts-Tobin returned to his focus on physics, and embarked on studies of theoretical condensed matter physics, particularly superconductivity. His work included studies of thermodynamic properties of type II superconductors using extensions of BCS theory,[9] as well as nonequilibrium phenomena in current-carrying superconducting systems. In this context, he contributed, with Lorenz Kramer, to the development of a generalized form of the Ginzburg–Landau framework, often referred to as the time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau theory, extending it to account for finite inelastic scattering processes and nonequilibrium effects in superconductors.[10][11][12] This generalized framework is used in theoretical and computational studies of superconducting dynamics.[13][14]
Academic career
Watts-Tobin studied mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he completed a PhD in 1961.[1]
After completing his PhD, Watts-Tobin became a Research Fellow at Selwyn College. He later held a Fellowship and College Lectureship in Mathematics at Churchill College before moving to Lancaster University in 1967, where he served as a lecturer and later senior lecturer in theoretical physics, continuing to publish research until his retirement in 1996.[2] His research focused on the theory of superconductors, and he was noted for his undergraduate teaching.[15]
Personal life
Watts-Tobin was the son of Ethel Watts, one of the first women to qualify as a chartered accountant in the United Kingdom.[16] His father, Oscar Tobin, was a medical doctor.
Watts-Tobin married the physician and Olympic fencer Mary Watts-Tobin in 1963.[17]
Watts-Tobin was an active member of Furness College at Lancaster University and took a particular interest in college life.[15]
He died on 26 April 2016 after a long illness.[15]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Watts-Tobin, Richard John, 1934–2016". Westminster School Archive. Retrieved 2026-04-15.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Obituaries: R. J. Watts-Tobin" (PDF). Selwyn College, Cambridge. 2015. Retrieved 2026-04-15.
- ↑ Crick, F. H. C.; Barnett, L.; Brenner, S.; Watts-Tobin, R. J. (1961). "General nature of the genetic code for proteins". Nature. 192 (4809): 1227–1232. doi:10.1038/1921227a0. PMID 13882203.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cobb, Matthew (2021). "A breakthrough from 60 years ago: "General nature of the genetic code for proteins" (1961)". Natural Sciences. 1. doi:10.1002/ntls.10018. Unknown parameter
|article-number=ignored (help) - ↑ Yanofsky, Charles (2007). "Establishing the triplet nature of the genetic code". Cell. 128 (5): 815–818. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2007.02.029. PMID 17350564.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Holliday, Robin (2003). "The early years of molecular biology: personal recollections". Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. 57 (2): 195–208.
- ↑ Nirenberg, Marshall W. (1968-12-12). "The genetic code" (PDF). Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
- ↑ Barnett, L.; Brenner, S.; Crick, F. H. C.; Shulman, R. G.; Watts-Tobin, R. J. (1967). "Phase-shift and other mutants in the first part of the rII B cistron of bacteriophage T4". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 252 (780): 487–560. doi:10.1098/rstb.1967.0030.
- ↑ Watts-Tobin, R.; Kramer, L.; Pesch, W. (1974). "Density of states, entropy, and specific heat for dirty type II superconductors at arbitrary temperature". Journal of Low Temperature Physics. 17 (1–2): 71–86. doi:10.1007/BF00654545.
- ↑ Kramer, L.; Watts-Tobin, R. J. (1978). "Theory of dissipative current-carrying states in superconducting filaments". Physical Review Letters. 40 (16): 1041–1044. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.40.1041.
- ↑ Watts-Tobin, R. J.; Krähenbühl, Y.; Kramer, L. (1981). "Nonequilibrium theory of dirty, current-carrying superconductors: phase-slip oscillators in narrow filaments near Tc". Journal of Low Temperature Physics. 42 (5–6): 459–501. doi:10.1007/BF00117427.
- ↑ Tidecks, Reinhard (1990). Current-Induced Nonequilibrium Phenomena in Quasi-One-Dimensional Superconductors. Springer Tracts in Modern Physics. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. doi:10.1007/BFb0048849. Search this book on
- ↑ Zolochevskii, I. V. (2014). "Resistive states in wide superconducting films induced by dc and ac currents (Review)". Low Temperature Physics. 40: 867–892. doi:10.1063/1.4900695.
- ↑ Presotto, Alice; Sardella, Edson; Malvezzi, André Luiz; Zadorosny, Rafael (2020). "Dynamical regimes of kinematic vortices in the resistive state of a mesoscopic superconducting bridge". Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. 32: 435702. doi:10.1088/1361-648X/aba5a3.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 "In memoriam". Lancaster University. Retrieved 2026-04-15.
- ↑ Crawford, Elizabeth (2020). "Watts [married name Watts-Tobin], Ethel (1895–1963)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ↑ "Mary Watts-Tobin". Olympedia. Retrieved 2026-04-15.
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