John Maddox
| John Maddox | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Royden Maddox 27 November 1925 Penllergaer, Swansea, Wales, UK |
| Died | 12 April 2009 (aged 83) |
| Nationality | British |
| Institutions | |
| Alma mater | |
| Academic advisors | Charles Coulson |
| Known for |
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| Notable awards | FRS (2000) |
| Spouse | Brenda Maddox |
| Children |
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Sir John Royden Maddox, FRS (27 November 1925 – 12 April 2009) was a British biologist and science writer. He was an editor of Nature for 22 years, from 1966–1973 and 1980–1995.
John Royden Maddox was born on 27 November 1925, at Penllergaer, near Swansea, Wales. He was the son of Arthur Jack Maddox, a furnaceman at an aluminium plant. He was educated at Gowerton Boys' County School. From there, aged 15, he won a state scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford, where he read chemistry, and King's College London, where he studied physics.
From 1949–55 Maddox lectured in theoretical physics at the University of Manchester.
He then became the science correspondent at the Manchester Guardian, a post he held until 1964.
From 1964 to 1966 he was the coordinator of the Nuffield Science Teaching Project; after which he was appointed editor of Nature, a role he held from 1966 to 1973 (and 1980–95).
He was director of the Nuffield Foundation from 1975 to 79.
From 1980 to 1985 he was again editor of Nature. In 1990, he publicly investigated homoeopathy claims.
When the book A New Science of Life by British biologist Rupert Sheldrake was published in 1981, proposing the theory of morphic resonance instead of DNA as the basis for shapes and behaviour in nature, Maddox denounced it fiercely in an editorial titled "A book for burning?" in which he argued that Sheldrake's ideas were pseudoscience. Maddox concluded that the book should not be burned but placed "among the literature of intellectual aberrations". He elaborated in a 1994 BBC documentary on Sheldrake's theory:
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