 He is known for developing the mathematics of the Coalescent theory, a theoretical model of inheritance, which is fundamental to modern population genetics.The grandson of a coal miner and son of a government scientist with a PhD in chemistry, Kingman was born in Beckenham, Kent, and grew up in the outskirts of London, where he attended Christ's College, Finchley, which was then a state grammar school.He was awarded a scholarship to read mathematics at Pembroke College, Cambridge, in 1956.