Background
Samuel was the son of Edwin Samuel, 2nd Viscount Samuel, and the grandson of Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel.
Samuel was the son of Edwin Samuel, 2nd Viscount Samuel, and the grandson of Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel.
He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and served in the Royal Artillery in the Second World War in India, Burma and Sumatra, reaching the rank of captain.
He was a second cousin of Rosalind Franklin. He then commenced a distinguished academic career, and was one of the founding fathers of the faculty of chemistry at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Late in his career, his scientific interests moved from physical chemistry (particularly chemical kinetics) to neurobiology.
He was the author of over 300 publications as well as the book Memory: How We Use lieutenant, Lose lieutenant and Can Improve lieutenant
From 14 November 1978 until 11 November 1999, he was a member of the British House of Lords, making him the only Israeli who ever served in this capacity.