Robert Williams - Publications#

Professor Robert Williams' publications number 650 to date.

Professor William's major research contributions concern metal ions and their function in biological systems. The emphasis in this work is that all biological systems are derived from a combination of inorganic and organic compounds. There is no life without minerals and during the course of evolution there have been considerable changes in mineral chemistry due to life. The work is summarized in four books - The Biological Chemistry of The Elements (1991) and second edition (2001), The Natural Selection of The Chemical Elements (1996), Bringing Chemistry to Life (1999), and The Chemistry of Evolution. The Development of our Ecosystem (2006). All four books are co-authored by J.J.R. Fraústo da Silva. In these books he has shown that the understanding of chemical elements in the environment is essential to the stability of life on Earth. The chemical environment is much more complex than has been recognized and effectively dominates the life forms, including man, which can exist.



Publications from 2005 –

The discovery of the nature of ferredoxin in photosystems: a recollection. R.J.P. Williams. Photosynthesis Research, Springer, 2005, 1-4.

Catalysis: principles, progress, prospects. J.M. Thomas and R.J.P. Williams. Phil. Trans. R. Soc., A 2005, 363, 765-791.

Molecular and thermodynamic bioenergetics. R.J.P. Williams. Biochem. Soc. Trans. 2005, 33, 825-828.

R.J.P. Williams and J.J.R. Fraústo da Silva. The Chemistry of Evolution. The Development of our Ecosystem. Elsevier, 2006.

The Biodistribution of Metal Ions. R.J.P. Williams in: Concepts and Models in Bioinorganic Chemistry. Eds. H.-B. Kraatz and N. Metzler-Nolte, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim Germany, 2006, Chapter 1, pp.1-24.

My past and a future role for inorganic biochemistry. R.J.P. Williams. J. Inorg. Biochem., 2006, 100, 1908-1924.

The Evolution of Calcium Biochemistry. R.J.P. Williams. Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 2006, 1763, 1139-1146.

Evolution and Signalling. R.J.P. Williams. International Meeting Rome 2004. Chemistry and Biology: the Transition between the Two Centuries. Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, 2006, 36, 327-353.

R.J.P. Williams in: Wellcome Witness in Twentieth Century Medicine, Vol. 30 Cisplatin 2007 pp.14-21.

A Chemical Systems Approach to Evolution. R.J.P. Williams. Dalton Transactions, 2007, Issue 10, 991-1001.

Systems biology of evolution: the involvement of metal ions. R.J.P. Williams. Biometals, 2007, 20, 107-112.

The evolution of the biochemistry of calcium. R.J.P. Williams in: Calcium: A Matter of Life or Death. Eds. J. Krebs and M. Michalak, Elsevier, B.V. 2007, Chapter 2.

R.J.P. Williams in: The Discovery, Use and Impact of Platinum Salts as Chemotherapy Agents for Cancer, Wellcome Witnesses to Twentieth Century Medicine, Vol. 30. Eds. D.A. Christie and E.M. Tansey. The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL, 2007, pp.15-20.

A system’s view of the evolution of life. R.J.P. Williams. Journal of The Royal Society: Interface, 2007, 4, 1049-1070.

R.J.P. Williams and J.J.R. Fraústo da Silva. Chapter 21 Evolution Revisited by Inorganic Chemists in: Fitness of the Cosmos for Life. Eds. J.D. Barrow, S.C. Morris, S.J. Freeland and C.L. Harper. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2008, pp.457-490.

Electron Transfer and Electronic Conduction through an Intervening Medium. Peter P. Edwards, Harry B. Gray, Matthew T.J. Lodge and Robert J.P. Williams. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 6758-6765.

Some fundamental features of biomineralization. R.J.P. Williams. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 2008, 303, 33-44.

R.J.P. Williams in: Chemistry at Oxford: A History from 1600 to 2005. Edited by R.J.P. Williams, J.S. Rowlinson and A. Chapman. Royal Society of Chemistry 2009.