Sir George Porter shared the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1967 with his former teacher, Ronald G. W. Norrish, and Manfred Eigen for their contributions to the study of rapid chemical reactions. Porter's efforts included research on flash photolysis , which has been used widely in the fields of organic chemistry, biochemistry, and photobiology. Porter, who is praised for having an outgoing personality and being a great promotor of science education, has also contributed to the scientific education of non-specialists and children, especially through his role in helping prepare television programs in Great Britain.
Porter was born on December 6, 1920, to John Smith Porter and Alice Ann (Roebuck) Porter in Stainforth, West Yorkshire, where he received his early education at Thorne Grammar School. With the award of an Ackroyd Scholarship, he entered Leeds University in 1938 to study chemistry and received his bachelor of science degree in 1941. While at Leeds he also studied radio physics and electronics, and he drew upon this background while serving in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve as a radar specialist during World War II. At the end of the war, Porter entered Emmanuel College at Cambridge University to do graduate work. There he met and studied under Norrish, who had pioneered research in the area of photochemical reactions in molecules. Porter received his doctorate degree from Cambridge in 1949.
Using very short pulses of energy that disturbed the equilibrium of molecules, Porter and Norrish developed a method to study extremely fast chemical reactions lasting for only one-billionth of a second. The technique is known as flash photolysis . First, a flash of short-wavelength light breaks a chemical that is photosensitive into reactive parts. Next, a weaker light flash illuminates the reaction zone, making it possible to measure short-lived free radicals, which are especially reactive atoms that have at least one unpaired electron. Flash photolysis made it possible to observe and measure free radicals for the first time and also to study the sequence of the processes of reactants as they are converted into products. When Porter won the Nobel Prize in 1967, he was praised, along with Norrish and Eigen, for making it possible for scientists around the world to use their techniques in a wide range of applications, opening many passageways to scientific investigation in physical chemistry. In his own work, Porter was able to apply his methods from his early work with gases to later work with solutions. He also developed a method to stabilize free radicals, which is called matrix isolation. It can trap free radicals in a structure of a supercooled liquid (a glass). Porter also made important contributions in the application of laser beams to photochemical studies for the purpose of investigating biochemical problems. Some practical applications of photochemical techniques include the production of fuel and chemical feedstocks.
In 1949, Porter became a demonstrator in chemistry at Cambridge University and an assistant director of research in the Department of Physical Chemistry in 1952. While he was at the British Rayon Research Association as assistant director of research in 1954, Porter used his method of flash photolysis to record organic free radicals with a lifetime as short as one millisecond. Also at the Rayon Association, he worked on problems of light and the fading of dye on fabric.
Porter was appointed professor of physical chemistry at Sheffield University in 1955, and in 1963 he became the head of the chemistry department and was honored as Firth Professor. During his years at Sheffield, Porter used his flash photolysis techniques to study the complex chemical interactions of oxygen with hemoglobin in animals. He also investigated the properties of chlorophyll in plants with the use of his high-speed flash techniques. He was able to improve his techniques to the degree that he could examine chemical reactions that were more than a thousand times faster than with the use of flash tubes. Porter also studied chloroplasts and the primary processes of photosynthesis.
In 1966, Porter also became Fullerian Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution in London and the Director of the Davy Faraday Research Laboratory. He left there to take the position of chair for the Center for Photomolecular Sciences at Imperial College in London in 1990. During his career, Porter received many other honors and awards in addition to the Nobel Prize. He was knighted in 1972, and he has been granted numerous honorary doctorate degrees and awarded prizes from British and American scientific societies, including the Robertson Prize of the American National Academy of Sciences and the Rumford Medal of the Royal Society, both in 1978.
Porter has been active outside scientific circles in the promotion of science to the general public. His concern about communication between scientists and the rest of society induced him to participate as an adviser on film and television productions. He has been praised for his activities in educating young people and people in non-scientific fields about the value of science. He was an active participant during his service with the Royal Institution in a science program series for British Broadcasting Company television (BBC-TV) called Young Scientist of the Year. Another BBC-TV program in which he participated was called The Laws of Disorder and Time Machines. Porter has also served on many policy and institutional committees that are involved in promoting science and education in Europe, England, and America.
Porter married Stella Brooke in 1949 and they have two sons, John Brooke Porter and Christopher Porter. His outgoing personality is considered an asset in promoting scientific knowledge. He has been an active contributor to scientific journals and has also played the role of advisor to industry. Besides sailing, Porter spends some leisure time vacationing on the coast of Kent with his family.
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