2018/04/02 by Soraya de Chadarevian · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · #Philosophy and History of Science #History of Science and Natural History
paper · pdf · doi:10.1002/pro.3417
openalex publication_date 2018/04/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
The essay reviews John Kendrew's pioneering work on the structure of myoglobin for which he shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1962. It reconstructs the status of protein X-ray crystallography at the time Kendrew entered the field in 1945, after distinctive service in operational research during the war. It reflects on the choice of sperm whale myoglobin as research material. In particular, it highlights Kendrew's early use of digital electronic computers for crystallographic computations and the marshaling of other tools and approaches that made it possible to solve the structure at increasing resolution. The essay further discusses the role of models in structure resolution and their broader reception. It ends by briefly reviewing Kendrew's other contributions in the formation and institutionalization of molecular biology.