Malcolm Dixon died in Cambridge, the university city in which he spent the whole of his life, on 7 December 1985, at the age of 86. He achieved international distinction for his work on physical biochemistry, notably the purification of enzymes and the kinetics of enzyme-catalysed reactions, and he will long be remembered in addition for the leading part he played in the introduction of the present systematic nomenclature of enzymes. When he began research in 1921, even the chemical nature of enzymes as proteins was far from settled. Through his research and teaching, and the publication of three outstanding books, he did much to put the study of enzymes on a firm quantitative basis. And when he died, this intensely shy and private man, who lived according to deeply held Christian beliefs, was mourned by a wide circle of friends and admirers.
Six decades of research in physical biochemistry