J. D. Bernal

John Desmond Bernal FRS
Bernal in 1949, photo by Wolfgang Suschitzky[6]
Born	(1901-05-10)10 May 1901 Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland
Died	15 September 1971(1971-09-15) (aged 70) London, England
Resting place	Battersea Cemetery, Morden (unmarked)[7]
Education	Bedford School
Alma mater	University of Cambridge
Known for	Bernal chart Bernal sphere Bernal stacking Bernal–Fowler rules Zone melting
Spouse	Agnes Eileen Sprague ​ ​ (m. 1922)​
Children	4, including Martin
Awards	Royal Medal (1945) Guthrie lecture (1947) Stalin Peace Prize (1953) Grotius Gold Medal (1959) Bakerian Lecture (1962) Fellow of the Royal Society[1]
Scientific career
Fields	X-ray crystallography
Institutions	Birkbeck College, University of London
Doctoral advisor	William Henry Bragg[2]
Doctoral students	Dorothy Hodgkin[3] Alan Mackay[4] Max Perutz[5] Alexander F. Wells
Military career
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1944–1945
Rank	Lieutenant (RNVR)
Battles/wars	Second World War Operation Overlord Normandy landings

John Desmond Bernal FRS^[1] (/bərˈnɑːl/; 10 May 1901 – 15 September 1971) was an Irish scientist who pioneered the use of X-ray crystallography in molecular biology. He published extensively on the history of science. In addition, Bernal wrote popular books on science and society. He was a communist activist and a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB).