Kersten Hall

Kersten Hall graduated from St. Anne's College, Oxford with a degree in biochemistry, before embarking on a PhD at the University of Leeds using molecular biology to study how viruses evade the human immune system. He then worked as a Research Fellow in the School of Medicine at Leeds before becoming a Visiting Fellow in the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science. His book 'The Man in the Monkeynut Coat:' (Oxford University Press, 2014) explores the life and work of physicist William Astbury who, from an unusual start studying the structure of wool fibres, made the very first attempt to solve the structure of DNA. The book was featured in a list of 'Books of 2014' by 'The Guardian' newspaper (https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2015/jan/01/books-of-the-year-2014) and was shortlisted for the 2015 British Society for the History of Science Dingle Prize. His next book, 'Insulin, the Crooked Timber - from 'Thick Brown Muck' to Wall Street Gold' tells the story of the discovery and development of insulin, and the controversies that surrounded this medical milestone, and will be published by Oxford University Press later this year.