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Physicist. A scientific polymath, Bernal was Professor of Physics (1938–1963) and the first Professor of Crystallography (1963–1968) at Birkbeck College, London University. His research included work on the tobacco mosaic virus, sex hormones, the structure and property of water and the chemical processes involved in the origin of matter. His publications include The Social Functions of Science (1939) and Science in History (1954). He served during the War as an adviser to Home Security, Bomber Command and Combined Operations. The artist, a distinguished teacher and Professor of Painting at the Royal College (1972–1986), knew the sitter well and used to visit him often at his home in London.