Richard "Dick" Gordon (born November 6, 1943) is an American theoretical

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually speciali ...

. He was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, the eldest son of Jack Gordon, a salesman and American handball champion, and artist Diana Gordon. He is married to retired scientist Natalie K Björklund with whom he co-wrote his second book and several academic publications. He has three sons, Leland, Bryson and Chason Gordon and three stepchildren Justin, Alan and Lana Hunstad. Gordon was a professor at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Win ...

from 1978 to 2011. He is retired and currently volunteers as a scientist for the

Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory (GSML) is an independent not-for-profit marine research and education organization and public aquarium in Panacea, Florida, United States. History The laboratory has its origins in Gulf Specimen Marine Company ...

Panacea, Florida Panacea is an unincorporated community in Wakulla County, Florida, United States. History The community was known as Smith Springs until 1893 when some Bostonians purchased the land about the five springs here and renamed the town Panacea, afte ...

where he winters, and he holds an adjunct position in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology,

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

. Gordon lives in

Alonsa, Manitoba Alonsa is an unincorporated community recognized as a local urban district located in north central Manitoba in the Rural Municipality of Alonsa. History Alonsa grew in the early 1900s with the coming of the railroad. The rail line was never exte ...

, Canada.

Academic career

Gordon was educated at

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

where he did an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and a PhD at

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

Chemical Physics Chemical physics is a subdiscipline of chemistry and physics that investigates physicochemical phenomena using techniques from atomic and molecular physics and condensed matter physics; it is the branch of physics that studies chemical proce ...

under Terrell L Hill. His thesis was ''On Stochastic Growth and Form and Steady State Properties of Ising Lattice Membranes''. He published his first paper in 1966. Gordon is an eclectic scientist and prolific writer with over 200 peer-reviewed publications in a wide number of fields. He has edited 17 academic books and special issues of scientific journals including two books of his own both of which detail his work on embryonic differentiation waves.Gordon, R
The Hierarchical Genome and Differentiation Waves: Novel Unification of Development, Genetics and Evolution
Singapore & London, World Scientific & Imperial College Press, 1999Gordon N, Gordon
Embryogenesis Explained
World Scientific Publishing, Singapore, 2016 Gordon has been summoned twice to the Canadian Parliament to testify as an expert scientific witness. He is best known for interdisciplinary and cross disciplinary work bridging biology with fields such as mathematics, engineering, physics and chemistry. He wrote the first paper on diatom nanotechnology founding that field. He started the field of adaptive image processing. He has also published about algal biofuels,

computed tomography A computed tomography scan (CT scan; formerly called computed axial tomography scan or CAT scan) is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers ...

, AIDS prevention, neural tube defects, embryo physics,

astrobiology Astrobiology, and the related field of exobiology, is an interdisciplinary scientific field that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Astrobiology is the multidisciplinary field that investi ...

as well as research and social ethics. His most cited paper is one where he applied the linear Kaczmarz method to create the nonlinear Algebraic Reconstruction Technique for image reconstruction with Robert Bender and

Gabor Herman Gabor Tamas Herman is a Hungarian-American professor of computer science. He is Emiritas Professor of Computer Science at The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY) where he was Distinguished Professor until 2017. He is known for his ...

in 1970.Gordon, R., R. Bender & G.T. Herma
Algebraic Reconstruction Techniques (ART) for three-dimensional electron microscopy and x-ray photography
Journal of Theoretical Biology 29(3), 471-481, 1970

Notable scientific publications

Books

* Gordon, N. & Gordon, R. ''Embryogenesis Explained'', World Scientific Publishing, Singapore, 2016. * Gordon, R. (1999). ''The Hierarchical Genome and Differentiation Waves: Novel Unification of Development, Genetics and Evolution.'' Singapore & London, World Scientific & Imperial College Press.

Selected academic publications

* Gordon, R., R. Bender & G.T. Herman (1970). ''Algebraic Reconstruction Techniques (ART) for three-dimensional electron microscopy and x-ray photography.'' Journal of Theoretical Biology 29(3), 471-481. * Gordon, R., G.T. Herman & S.A. Johnson (1975). ''Image reconstruction from projections.'' Scientific American 233(4), cover, 12, 56-61, 64-68, 139. * Gordon, R. (1976). ''Dose reduction in computerized tomography.'' uest Editorial Investigative Radiology 111(6), 508-517. * Gordon, R. & A.G. Jacobson (1978). ''The shaping of tissues in embryos.'' Scientific American 238(6), 106-113, 160. * Gordon, R., N.K. Björklund & P.D. Nieuwkoop (1994). ''Dialogue on embryonic induction and differentiation waves.'' International Review of Cytology 150, 373-420. * Gordon, R. & R.W. Drum (1994). ''The chemical basis of diatom morphogenesis.'' International Review of Cytology 150, 243-372, 421-422.

Other work

The Canadian charity

Books With Wings A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arra ...

was founded by Richard Gordon. He started the work after developing an intense interest in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

as his personal response to the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

. Books With Wings is a collaborative project between Canadian, British, and American students and their counterparts in Afghanistan to provide books for universities throughout Afghanistan. Sally Armstrong described Gordon's early efforts to start Books With Wings in her book ''Ascent of Women''.Armstrong,
Ascent of women
Toronto : Random House Canada, 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Richard 1943 births Living people Scientists from Brooklyn University of Chicago alumni University of Oregon alumni University of Manitoba faculty Wayne State University faculty 21st-century American biologists 21st-century American physicists