The San Jose Mercury News published this obituary on Professor Emeritus John H. Barton:

Longtime Stanford University law professor John H. Barton, of Los Altos, died Monday at Stanford Hospital from brain injuries suffered in a bicycle accident on July 14, the university has announced. He was 72.

Barton, a member of the Stanford Law School faculty since 1969, was described by family and friends as "brilliant" and a "pioneer and intellectual leader." His wide-ranging studies revolved around the intersection of science and law, where he addressed topics such as national defense, intellectual property rights and international health care.

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"He had a rigorous scientific mind that he applied to all kinds of problems, scholarly and otherwise," Hank Greely, a Stanford Law School faculty member, said in a statement. "He loved figuring out how new technologies and old societies would affect each other, but he was always driven not just to understand, but to make the world a better place — safer from nuclear war, safer from the ravages of disease."