John Charlton Polkinghorne KBE. 16 October 1930—9 March 2021

Abstract

John Polkinghorne made many contributions to theoretical elementary particle physics. Between 1959 and 1979 he led the theoretical physics group in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics in Cambridge University. He discovered important features of the analytic properties of the scattering matrix, culminating in the jointly authored book, The analytic S-matrix , which has become widely influential. He also worked on scattering at high energies and developed a covariant formulation of Feynman's (Richard Feynman ForMemRS) parton model (partons being later identified as quarks and gluons). In 1979, he resigned from his professorship of Mathematical Physics and commenced training as an Anglican priest. While serving in a number of appointments within the Church of England and then within Cambridge University he became one of the most influential figures in the growing academic field of science and religion, publishing both popular and academic texts and lecturing on an international stage.