Peter Sturrock, professor of applied physics, emeritus, in the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences (H&S), whose wide-ranging work influenced generations of physicists, died Aug. 12, 2024. He was 100.

Sturrock’s work touched on electron optics, particle accelerators, plasma physics, solar physics, astrophysics, scientific inference, and the philosophy of science itself. His discoveries are still reverberating: One of his early famous inventions was the “fast-wave microwave tube” that opened the door to the development of free-electron lasers – powerful coherent light sources now used in scientific research, medical treatments, and industrial applications.

Peter Sturrock, 1924-2024 | Linda A. Cicero / Stanford University News Service

A leader in the field of solar physics for more than 50 years, he wrote original works on both quasars and pulsars soon after their discovery in the 1960s. His 1971 paper A Model of Pulsars has been cited nearly 2,000 times and continues to be cited today. In the 1970s, he developed interests in unconventional and controversial subjects such as UFOs, ball lightning, and extrasensory perception. After retirement, he branched into a new field – investigating possible cycles in the stream of subatomic particles known as neutrinos that reach the Earth as a result of solar nuclear fusion reactions.

“Peter Sturrock represented the founding generation of Stanford's interest in the universe,” said Roger Romani, professor of physics in H&S. “In Peter’s case, that interest stretched well beyond the domain of conventional physics. To see Peter's boundless curiosity in action, right into his 10th decade, has been a true inspiration.”

A prolific author and an outsized influence

Sturrock came to Stanford in 1955 as a research associate in the Microwave Laboratory, part of the Department of Physics. He left to do research at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) and then returned to Stanford as a professor of applied physics in 1961. A year later, he married Marilyn Stenson, whom he said “brought zest” to his life.

In 1964, while working on plasma physics, he established the Institute for Plasma Research at Stanford and served as its director on two occasions. Colleagues from that era recall that Sturrock published on average a paper a month at the time. When his interests broadened into solar physics, he attracted several prominent scientists in the field to Stanford, making it one of the leading centers of solar physics research.

In 1981, he led the establishment of the international Society for Scientific Exploration, whose members deal with the origins of unexplained phenomena. He served as the society’s president from 1981 to 2001 and was the first editor of its journal. In 1985, he helped create the interdisciplinary Center for Space Science and Astrophysics, which served as the seed for the growth of astrophysics at Stanford. He retired in 1999 after 38 years of influencing numerous students and postdoctoral colleagues, who carry on his legacy. He continued to work in his office in the Varian Physics Building until 2020.

“Observing how Peter taught his Solar System Astrophysics course and how he did his research when I was a graduate student (1966-72) informed how I work,” said Ronald L. Moore, a space science adjunct professor and research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and a former doctoral student of Sturrock’s. “I learned to approach research problems by reducing them to the key physical elements and key physical processes at play and then expressing their interplay with a schematic drawing (cartoon), always closely guided by observations of the phenomenon in question.”

During his career, Sturrock produced more than 300 papers and edited five volumes. He wrote five books between 1955 and 2013 on topics including electron optics, plasma physics, UFOs, his own scientific career, and the authorship of works attributed to Shakespeare. In 2017, he wrote a detailed autobiographical essay entitled “The Life and Times of a Dissident Scientist” as an invited contribution to the journal Solar Physics.

He also received many awards. Some of the most prestigious include the George Ellery Hale Prize from the American Astronomical Society, Solar Physics Division (1986); the top prize from the Gravity Research Foundation (1967); the Arctowski Medal from the National Academy of Sciences (1990); the Space Science Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (1992); and the Dinsdale Award from the Society for Scientific Exploration (2006).

Aiding the war effort, publishing his first book

Peter Andrew Sturrock was born March 20, 1924, in South Stifford, England. As a child, he developed a strong interest in mechanical toys. In 1942, he was admitted to St. John’s College at Cambridge University and later received a top grade in the Mathematical Tripos, a famously rigorous three-year course that results in a math degree. From 1943 to 1946, he helped in the war effort by working to develop radar at the Telecommunication Research Establishment. He came to the United States in 1949 to work at the National Bureau of Standards and soon thereafter met Betty Murray. They were married for 10 years.

He earned a doctoral degree from Cambridge University in 1951 with a dissertation on Hamiltonian electron optics. He returned to Cambridge in 1953 as a research fellow at St. John’s College and produced his first book, Static and Dynamic Electron Optics (Cambridge University Press, 1955), which was the foundation for his later research on accelerator dynamics.

“I have benefited greatly from Peter Sturrock’s strikingly original contributions to plasma-, solar-, space- and astrophysics ever since I was a graduate student,” said Roger Blandford, the Luke Blossom Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences, professor of physics in H&S, and professor of particle physics and astrophysics at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. “I also appreciated his strong support and wise counsel when we started the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology. In later years, we enjoyed friendly debates on topics ranging from solar neutrino statistics to Shakespeare, and I will miss his lively and inquiring mind.”

Sturrock is survived by his two children, three grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. His wife, Marilyn, died in 2006.