Colin F. McClare papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
George Mason University
2400 Fenwick Library
Special Collections Research Center
Fenwick Library MS2FL
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Mieko Palazzo
Phone: (703) 993-2220
Fax: (703) 993-2669
Restrictions:

There are no access restrictions.

Terms of access:

The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)

Preferred citation:

Colin F. McClare papers, C0116, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Summary

Extent:
1 Linear Feet 2 boxes
Creator:
McClare, Colin William Fraser, 1937-1977
Abstract:
This collection contains revisions of a manuscript on biophysics as well as correspondence with George Mason University biology professor Harold Morowitz.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Colin F. McClare papers, C0116, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains revisions of a manuscript on biophysics as well as correspondence with George Mason University biology professor Harold Morowitz.

Biographical / historical:

Colin F. McClare was a biophysics professor who spent much of his academic career trying to devise a new theory to explain biochemical processes. As a student, he attended Felsted School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he studied chemistry. As a Medical Research Council student in 1958-1961, McClare conducted research on free radicals at Cambridge. As a Beit Fellow in 1961-1963, he researched energy transfer in nucleic acids. McClare was awarded a Ph.D. in 1962, after which he became a lecturer in Biophysics at King's College, London in 1963-1977. McClare's research in bioenergetics and the problems of muscle contraction led him to conclude that classical thermodynamics was inadequate to explain biological processes and that the application of the Second Law of Thermodynamics to biological machines required the introduction of time scales. His ideas were not generally accepted and, although he wrote extensively on the subject, his papers were denied publication until four controversial papers appeared in the Journal of Theoretical Biology and Nature, 1971-1972. The essays generated vigorous debates among scientists all over the world, but ultimately, McClare's unorthodox views failed to gain the approval of established scientific opinion.

Acquisition information:
The donor is unknown.
Processing information:

Processed by Special Collections Research Center staff. EAD markup completed by Eron Ackerman and Jordan Patty in August 2009.

Arrangement:

Organized by subject and date.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard