[1] Heywood's early work at MIT focused on chemical processes in car engines of molecules like oxides of nitrogen that lead to hydrocarbon emissions, at a time when it was unclear how and to what extent these contributed to atmospheric pollution.
The two temporarily moved back to England for John to work on plasma dynamics for the Central Electricity Generating Board, before returning to Cambridge in 1968.
John and Peggy had three sons; engineer Jamie, craftsman builder Stephen, and entrepreneur Benjamin.
Together the family, led by Jamie, founded the ALS Therapy Development Institute to try and find a cure for Stephen, documented in the documentary film, So Much So Fast, and the book His Brother's Keeper: A Story from the Edge of Medicine, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jonathan Weiner.
[7] Stephen's illness also inspired the online patient network PatientsLikeMe, founded by brothers Benjamin and Jamie with a college friend from MIT, Jeff Cole.