P. S. Atiyah was one of the great legal scholars of the 20th century. The law of torts (especially in so far as that field concerns personal injury and death) and the law of contract were his principal interests, and he made immense contributions to those areas. His research also encompassed legal history and legal institutions. His most important works include Accidents, Compensation and the Law, the first edition of which was published in 1970, and The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract, which was published in 1979.
Posted to Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the British Academy, XIX