John Iball
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John Iball
FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...
FIP (1907–1993) was a British physicist and
crystallographer A crystallographer is a type of scientist who practices crystallography, in other words, who studies crystals. Career paths The work of crystallographers spans several academic disciplines, including the life sciences, chemistry, physics, and m ...
. He made major advances in cancer research. He gives his name to the Iball Index: the relative potency of
carcinogen A carcinogen () is any agent that promotes the development of cancer. Carcinogens can include synthetic chemicals, naturally occurring substances, physical agents such as ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and biologic agents such as viruse ...
ic compounds.


Life

He was born in
Hasland Hasland is a suburb of Chesterfield in the Borough of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, England. Hasland is located south of Spital, east of Birdholme and north of Grassmoor. Hasland ward had a population of 6,615 on the 2011 Census. Despite the ...
near Chesterfield in
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
on 1 February 1907. He attended Alun County School in
Mold, Flintshire Mold ( ) is a town and community in Flintshire, Wales, on the River Alyn. It is the historic county town and was the administrative seat of Flintshire County Council from 1996 to 2025, as it was of Clwyd from 1974 to 1996. According to the 2011 ...
from 1919 to 1925. He then went to study Mathematics and Physics at the College of North Wales in Bangor. He graduated with a first class degree (BSc) in Physics in 1928. In 1929 he received a Diploma in Education then won a research scholarship which resulted in a further degree (MSc) and doctorate (PhD) from the
University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...
in 1932. From 1932 to 1934 (under a Fellowship from the
University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...
) he did further research at the Davy Faraday Laboratory at the
Royal Institution The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...
in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
under the Sir
William Lawrence Bragg Sir William Lawrence Bragg (31 March 1890 – 1 July 1971) was an Australian-born British physicist who shared the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics with his father William Henry Bragg "for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by ...
. Here he did X-ray studies on organic materials, particularly those of carcinogenic properties. Resultantly, in 1934 he began working in the Research Institute of the Royal Cancer Hospital, London. He did extensive studies on both the causative and curative effects of X-rays on cancer: a very delicate balance. During this period he did a study visit to
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
to visit the laboratory of Prof Jaroslav Heyrovsky to specialise further in
polarography Polarography is a type of voltammetry where the working electrode is a dropping mercury electrode (DME) or a static mercury drop electrode (SMDE), which are useful for their wide cathodic ranges and renewable surfaces. It was invented in 1922 by C ...
. The
University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...
awarded him a second doctorate (DSc) in 1939. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
he worked on rocketry technology for the
Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed on 1 August 1939 by the Ministry of Supply Act 1939 ( 2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. 38) to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Ministe ...
, based at the Projectile Development Establishment at
Aberporth Aberporth is a seaside village, community (Wales), community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales. The population at the 2001 Census, was 2,485, of whom 49 per cent could speak the Welsh language. At the 2011 Census, the population of the co ...
on the Welsh coast. This included several trans-Atlantic sea trips to pass specialist knowledge to the Americans. After the war he went into the commercial world for some years, working in the Physics laboratory of the Research Department for
Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...
in
Port Sunlight Port Sunlight is a model village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is located between Lower Bebington and New Ferry, on the Wirral Peninsula. Port Sunlight was built by Lever Brothers to accommodate workers in ...
. His main research here was on the effects of X-rays on emulsions (1946–47). On 1 January 1948 he joined University College, Dundee (later the University of Dundee) in
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. He remained there for the rest of his working life, being given an Honorary Professorship (in Chemistry) in 1957. Under his leadership Dundee became a centre for X-ray crystallography and macro-molecular photography. The
University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...
Museum Services hold a collection of Iball's original diagrams and electron density maps. In 1950 he was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...
. His proposers were
George Dawson Preston George Dawson Preston FRSE (8 August 1896 – 22 June 1972) was a 20th century British physicist specialising in crystallography and the structure of alloys. He was one of the first to use x-rays and electron diffraction to study the crystal struc ...
,
Edward Thomas Copson Edward Thomas Copson FRSE (21 August 1901 – 16 February 1980) was a British mathematician who contributed widely to the development of mathematics at the University of St Andrews, serving as Regius Professor of Mathematics amongst other posi ...
, James Forrest and
Robert Percival Cook Robert Percival Cook FRSE (1906-1989) was an Australian-born biochemist. He advised the UK government on nutritional issues during the Second World War and was considered an expert in the field of nutrition. He played a key role in the development ...
. In 1952 he became a Research Fellow in the British Empire Cancer Campaign (renamed the Cancer Research Campaign in 1970). While in Dundee, Iball set up the Tayside and Fife Branch of the
British Association for the Advancement of Science The British Science Association (BSA) is a Charitable organization, charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Scienc ...
and offered assistance to local industries with any scientific matters. He died at 11 Glamis Terrace in
Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
on 21 January 1993, shortly before his 86th birthday.


Family

Iball had one daughter, Dorothy, by his wife Margaret.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iball, John 1907 births 1993 deaths Alumni of the University of Wales Academics of the University of Dundee Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh British physicists British cancer researchers People from Hasland People associated with Dundee