Laurence Croft

I was born in Liverpool in September 1943 and spent much of my childhood in the part of Liverpool that had been much destroyed by bombs during the Second World War. I can still remember the day in 1945 when my father arrived home from serving in the RAF in Burma.

After attending local schools I studied chemistry at Nottingham University where I gained a first-class honours degree and later a Ph.D. I was then awarded a research fellowship at the medical school of Oxford University. It was here that I carried out research on protein structure and I became the first person to determine the molecular structure of the eye lens protein. This research has led to the greater understanding as to how cataracts develop. My fascination with protein structure led me in 1973 to publish the "Handbook of Protein Sequences" which soon became a standard work for researchers around the world. At Nottingham University my research led to the elucidation of the molecular structures of several new antibiotics used in the treatment of tuberculosis. I then moved to Salford University to lead an international team of scientists in search of the elusive chalones, which were believed to a new miracle drug. Since that time I have carried out apicultural research and have published much in this area. I now devote much of my time studying the history of science and have written biographies of both Charles Darwin and Philip Henry Gosse. I also write fiction under the pen name, Innes Brown.