John Donald Currey Explained

John Donald Currey (9 August 1932 – 18 December 2018), was a British zoologist who lectured at the University of York where he specialised in the biomechanics of mineralised tissues such as bone.^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

Early life

He was born in Scunthorpe in 1932 and later the family moved to Pickwick, Wiltshire. He went to St Edward's School, Oxford, and completed his national service before reading zoology at Brasenose College, Oxford; he was awarded a "first" in 1956.^[6] After graduation he served as a whaling inspector in the Antarctic on board the whaling ship Southern Harvester.^[1]

Career

He worked as a demonstrator in the zoology department at Oxford and completed his D. Phil. in 1961; the title of his thesis was "Functional aspects of the structure of bone, with special reference to Haversian systems".^[7] He moved to the new biology department at York University in 1964. He spent a year in 1969 at the Veterans Administration Hospital and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA. In 1970, he returned to York as a professor. Although his main area of research was the mechanics of bone, he spent some years studying the polymorphism of shell colouration in Cepaea snails, particularly in collaboration with Arthur Cain.^[8] He investigated bone and other hard tissues from a particularly diverse range of vertebrates (e.g. narwhal tusk, crocodile nasal bone and whale bulla),^{[9] [10]} and a number of his papers dealt with the biomechanics of mollusc shells and other invertebrate skeletons.^[11] He was head of the Department of Biology at York from 1984 to 1990, after which he became Deputy Vice Chancellor. He retired in 1999 and was named as professor emeritus.^{[1] [5]}

He was one of the first to point out that diffuse damage and microcracks can help make the bone stronger. “When bone starts to break thousands of little microcracks form. These microcracks are positioned sensibly in relation to the histological structure of the bone, but we don’t know where they form in relation to the ultrastructure. Typically when microcracks form they only reach a few microns in length before they come to a halt. The big question is, what brings them to a halt?”.^[4]

In 2013 the European Society of Biomechanics awarded him the Huiskes Medal for Biomechanics.^[12] He authored over one hundred papers, appearing between 1959 and 2020.^{[13] [14] [15]}

Personal life

He married Jillian Vine in 1960, and they had two boys and a girl. He was a keen and proficient orienteerer.^[1]

Books

• Animal Skeletons (1970). John D. Currey. Institute of Biology. Studies in biology: no. 22. New York, St. Martin's Press
• Mechanical Design in Organisms (1982). Stephen A. Wainwright, W. D. Biggs, John D. Currey. Princeton University Press
• The Mechanical Adaptations of Bones (1984). John D. Currey. Princeton University Press.
• Bones: Structure and Mechanics (2002). John D. Currey. Princeton University Press.

External links

• JMBBM Frontiers Webinar: Celebrating the life and work of John Currey – November 19, 2020

Notes and References

1. Fleck . Claudia . 2019 . In memoriam – John D. Currey, 1932–2018 . Journal of Biomechanics . 84 . 1–3 . 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2019.01.028 . 6 October 2021 . Elsevier.
2. Web site: 2019. Remembering John D Currey 1932-2018. 6 October 2021. European Society of Biomechanics.
3. Web site: 2019. In Memory of John Currey. 6 October 2021. York Unlimited.
4. Web site: Professor John D Currey. 6 October 2021. Department of Biology University of York.
5. Book: A History of the first fifty years of Biology at York. 2013. University of York. Williamson. Mark. UK. White. David. 6 October 2021.
6. News: 23 June 1956 . University News . 10 . . 6 October 2021 . The Times Digital Archive.
7. Web site: EThOS: e-theses online service . British Library.
8. News: 29 May 1968. Snail shells reflect changes in climate. 16. Times. 6 October 2021. The Times Digital Archive.
9. Currey . J.D. . The design of mineralised hard tissues for their mechanical functions . Journal of Experimental Biology . 1999 . 202 . 23 . 3285–3294 . 10.1242/jeb.202.23.3285.
10. Currey . J.D. . Brear . K. . Zioupos . P. . Dependence of mechanical properties on fibre angle in narwhal tusk, a highly oriented biological composite . Journal of Biomechanics . July 1994 . 27 . 7 . 885–897 . 10.1016/0021-9290(94)90261-5.
11. Currey . J.D. . A comparison of the strength of echinoderm spines and mollusc shells . Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom . May 1975 . 55 . 2 . 419–424 . 10.1017/S0025315400016039.
12. Web site: The Huiskes Medal for Biomechanics. 6 October 2021. European Society of Biomechanics.
13. Burr . David . Zaslansky . Paul . Fleck . Claudia . 2020 . Celebrating John D. Currey's Contributions to the Science of Bone . . Special issue . 6 October 2021 . Science Direct.
14. Fleck . C. . Burke . M. . Ganzosch . G. . Müller . C. . Currey . J.D. . Zaslansky . P. . Breaking crown dentine in whole teeth: 3D observations of prevalent fracture patterns following overload . Bone . 1 March 2020 . 132 . 115178 . 10.1016/j.bone.2019.115178.
15. Web site: J D Currey's research while affiliated with New York University and other places . 6 October 2021 . ResearchGate.