Sir John Royden Maddox, FRS (Hon) (27 November 1925 – 12 April 2009)1 was a British science writer. He was an editor of Nature for 22 years,2 from 1966–1973 and 1980-1995.3
Contents 1 Academics and honors 2 Personal life 3 Sheldrake editorial 4 AIDS Editorial 5 Bibliography 6 References 7 External links // Academics and honorsJohn Maddox was born in Penllergaer, Swansea, Wales. He studied chemistry and physics at Christ Church, Oxford and King's College London. From 1949 to 1955 he 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 as the editor of Nature, a role he held twice, 1966–1973 and 1980-1995. He was director of Nuffield Foundation from 1975 to 1979. In 1990, he publicly investigated homeopathy claims.4 Maddox was knighted in 1995 and was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society in 2000.
He was a a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association and a Trustee of Sense About Science.
Personal lifeMaddox lived in London and spent time at his cottage near Brecon, Wales where he and his wife, Brenda Maddox, were actively involved in the local community.
Sheldrake editorialWhen 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 behavior in nature, Maddox denounced it fiercely in an editorial titled "A book for burning?"5 He elaborated in a 1994 BBC documentary on Sheldrake's theory: "I was so offended by it, that I said that while it's wrong that books should be burned, in practice, if book burning were allowed, this book would be a candidate (...) I think it's dangerous that people should be allowed by our liberal societies to put that kind of nonsense into currency. It's unnecessary to introduce magic into the explanation from sic physical and biological phenomenon when in fact there is every likelihood that the continuation of research as it is now practiced will indeed fill all the gaps that Sheldrake draws attention to. You see, Sheldrake's is not a scientific theory. Sheldrake is putting forward magic instead of science, and that can be condemned, in exactly the language that the popes used to condemn Galileo, and for the same reasons: it is heresy".6
AIDS EditorialMaddox penned an editorial7 in April of 1983 entitled "No Need for Panic about AIDS" that voiced the then-common thinking that "male homosexuals should be persuaded to change their ways" of "pathetic promiscuity" and described AIDS as a "perhaps non-existent condition."
Bibliography Beyond the Energy Crisis Revolution in Biology The Doomsday Syndrome What Remains to Be Discovered: Mapping the Secrets of the Universe, the Origins of Life, and the Future of the Human Race. ISBN 0-684-82292-X (hardcover, 1998), ISBN 0-684-86300-6 (paperback, 1999) References ^ "Obituary: Sir John Maddox", The Times, 13 April 2009. ^ "Nature — the Maddox years". Nature. http://www.nature.com/nature/history/full/nature06241.html. Retrieved 2009-10-21. ^ [1] "John Maddox 1925–2009", "Nature", 1 April 2009. ^ "Homeopathy Part 1". ABC TV. 03/04/2003. http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s805448.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-21. ^ Maddox, John (1981). "A book for burning?". Nature. ^ A Book For Burning at YouTube ^ "No need for panic about AIDS. Acquired immune deficiency disease, now frequent among male homosexuals in the United States, is not this century's black death. The most urgent need is to understand what is going on". Nature 302 (5911): 749. April 1983. PMID 6843647. External links John Maddox interview (1997) Persondata NAME Maddox, John Royden ALTERNATIVE NAMES SHORT DESCRIPTION chemist, physicist, journalist, editor DATE OF BIRTH 1925-11-27 PLACE OF BIRTH Penllergaer, Swansea, Wales DATE OF DEATH 2009-04-12 PLACE OF DEATH
