Alan Carling obituary

Alan Carling’s doctoral thesis was an interpretation of Marx’s Das Kapital based on mathematical principles more commonly associated with econometrics Photograph: none

My former colleague and father-in-law, Alan Carling, who has died aged 75, was an acclaimed sociologist; he taught for many years at the University of Bradford.

Former students remember his sense of humour and ferocious intellect. He was widely respected, known for his generosity and feared by some for his boyish delight in shredding weak arguments.