SOME IMPORTANT PUBLICATIONS
Dorothy Hodgkin never wrote a book on crystallography. However, she contributed in other ways, by writing and cowriting hundreds of papers on the subject. The National Cataloguing Unit for the Archives of Contemporary Scientists compiled a catalog of Hodgkin’s papers. In 1991, Hodgkin gave permission for the papers to be catalogued and kept in the Bodleian Library of Oxford. The CWP, the Contributions of 20th Century Women to Physics archive at the University of California, Los Angeles, suggests the following among Hodgkin’s most important papers: “The X-ray Analysis of Complicated Molecules”; “The Crystal Structure of Cholesteryl Iodide”; “X-ray Crystallographic Investigation of the Structure of Penicillin,”; and “Atomic Positions in Rhombohedral 2-zinc Insulin Crystals.”
Hodgkin has been celebrated twice on British postage stamps. This is the first, released as part of the Women of Achievement issue in 1996.
CONCLUSION
Researching the life and times of Hodgkin, her colleagues, and the scientists who came before and after her reveals so many common threads. Hodgkin was curious and grounded, kind and showing good humor, a self-starting visionary who recognized the importance of peace and justice. The state of the home (family opinion, involvement, and experience) and the state of the world (wars and economics) played big roles in her life. Being able to balance home and work lives was also important. And these points were raised time and time again in other scientists’ biographies. It’s exciting to see how lineages are built, how paths and people cross, reflect each other, and diverge into tracks that progress the bigger scientific field, and humanity overall.
CHRONOLOGY
1859 Alfred Baring Garrod defines rheumatoid arthritis.
1895 Wilhelm Röntgen discovers X-rays.
1910 Dorothy Crowfoot is born in Cairo, Egypt, to British parents.
1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire kills 146 people, many of them under age twenty.
1914 Great Britain enters World War I.
1917 The United States enters World War I, and the Selective Service Act (passing into law on May 18, 1917) introduces the draft.
1920 Hodgkin becomes interested in chemistry and crystals. Earns masters degree in mathematics.
1921–1928 Hodgkin studies at Sir John Leman School, Beccles, England.
1925 Hodgkin reads her first book on crystallography, Concerning the Nature of Things, by W. H. Bragg.
1928 Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.
1928–1932 Hodgkin attends Somerville College at Oxford University. For a brief time, she studies both archaeology and chemistry, but a course in X-ray crystallography settles her focus.
1932 Hodgkin graduates Somerville College with a chemistry degree.
1932–1934 Hodgkin studies with J. D. Bernal at Cambridge University.
1934 Hodgkin is diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis; Hodgkin and Bernal photograph pepsin with X-rays, launching protein crystallography.
1934–1935 Hodgkin is a research fellow at Somerville College, Oxford.
1935–1955 Hodgkin is an official fellow and tutor at Somerville College.
1936 Hodgkin successfully photographs insulin with X-rays.
1936–1939 The Arab uprising happens in Palestine.
1937 Hodgkin is awarded her Cambridge PhD and marries Dr. Thomas Hodgkin, an expert in African affairs.
1938 Hodgkin and Thomas’s first child, Luke, is born.
1939 Great Britain enters World War II.
1940 Howard Florey and Ernst Chain make groundbreaking discovery about penicillin.
1941 The United States enters World War II; Hodgkin and Thomas’s second child, Elizabeth, is born.
1941–1942 Hodgkin determines the structure of cholesteryl iodide by X-ray diffraction.
1942–1949 Using X-ray diffraction, Hodgkin studies, determines, and publishes about the structure of penicillin.
1944 Oxford’s Department of Mineralogy and Crystallography is divided, and Hodgkin stays with the subdepartment of Chemical Crystallography.
1945 Hodgkin determines penicillin’s structure; World War II ends.
1946 Hodgkin helps with the initial meetings in the creation of the International Union of Crystallography; Hodgkin’s and Thomas’s third child, Toby, is born.
1946–1956 Hodgkin is an Oxford lecturer and demonstrator.
1947 Hodgkin is awarded a fellowship of the Royal Society because of her work with penicillin.
1948 Vitamin B12 is isolated, and Hodgkin begins work on it.
1955 Hodgkin takes the first X-ray diffraction photographs of vitamin B12; the Russell-Einstein Manifesto is published.
1956 Hodgkin determines the structure of B12 (see also 1961); is awarded the Royal Medal and becomes a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences. She also becomes an Oxford University reader in X-ray crystallography.
1958 Hodgkin is made a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
1960–1977 Hodgkin works as Wolfson Research Professor of the Royal Society.
1961 The structure that was determined in 1956 was later understood to not be the naturally active vitamin. The complete structure was finalized in 1961.
1964 Hodgkin wins the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for her work on vitamin B12.
1965 Queen Elizabeth II presents Hodgkin with the Order of Merit.
1969 Hodgkin calculates the three-dimensional structure of the protein insulin, thirty-four years after she first successfully photographed it.
1971–1988 Hodgkin serves as chancellor of Bristol University.
1972 Hodgkin is the Bakerian Lecturer at the National Academy of Sciences in the United States.
1972–1975 Hodgkin is president of the International Union of Crystallography.
1975–1988 Hodgkin is president of the Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs.
1976 Hodgkin is given the Copley Medal from the Royal Society of London; is made a member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
1977–1978 Hodgkin is president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
1978 Hodgkin is awarded the Longstaff Medal from the British Association for the Advancement of Sciences.
1982 Hodgkin receives the Mikhail Lomonosov Gold Medal from the Soviet Academy of Sciences.
1984 Hodgkin wins the Dimitrov Prize.
1987 Hodgkin wins the Lenin Peace Prize.
1994 Dorothy Hodgkin dies after a stroke, at her home in Shipston-on-Stour, England.
GLOSSARY
atom The smallest particle of a substance.
atomic structure The organization of atoms.
chemistry The study of matter and the changes it experiences.
cross-disciplinary Relating to more than one branch of knowledge.
crystallography The study of atomic and molecular structures.
diffraction pattern Shows in what directions the X-ray scattered after being sent through a crystal.
epimerization A chemical process affecting the chiral centers, tetrahedral atoms (usually carbons), in a molecule.
hypothesis An idea or theory not yet proven.
molecular structure The organization of molecules.
oxidation A chemical reaction by which an atom loses an electron.
Patterson map Shows the vectors between heavy atoms.
protein crystallography The study of the structure of proteins.
rheumatoid arthritis A disease of the joints that causes increasing pain over time.
synthesize Make something complex by combining simpler substances.
X-ray crystallography The study of a substance’s structure by use of X-ray diffraction.
X-ray tube A device for generating X-rays.
FURTHER INFORMATION
BOOKS
Maddox, Brenda. Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA. London, UK: HarperCollins Publishers, 2002.
Senechal, Marjorie. I Died for Beauty: Dorothy Wrinch and the Cultures of Science. Oxford, UK: Oxfor
d University Press, 2012.
WEBSITE
Nature Milestones: Crystallography
http://www.nature.com/milestones/milecrystal/index.html
Nature Milestones highlight achievements in scientific fields. In this one, you can read articles on twenty-five different events or topics in crystallography’s history and view a timeline of milestones.
VIDEOS
BBC: An Eye for Pattern: The Letters of Dorothy Hodgkin
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04lc3gt
In this five-part BBC Radio series, Dorothy’s biographer, Georgina Ferry, narrates letters from and to Dorothy. This is a great way to hear the warm, human side of sharp, factual science.
Ri Channel: A Case of Crystal Clarity
http://richannel.org/a-case-of-crystal-clarity
An animated critter experiences X-ray crystallography firsthand as he’s isolated, crystallized, X-rayed, and analyzed. The little green /fellow survives, and the viewer of this short animation understands crystallography a bit better.
The Royal Institution
http://richannel.org
This London-based nonprofit helps people understand science through entertaining educational lectures and videos.
The Royal Institution
“Celebrating Crystallography—An Animated Adventure”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqQlwYv8VQI
This short animated explanation and history of crystallography is fun and informative to watch.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries: Dorothy Hodgkin 1910–1994.” PBS.org. Accessed May 26, 2016. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bmhodg.html.
American Crystallographic Association. “Careers in Crystallography: Exploring the Structure of Matter.” Accessed May 24, 2016. http://www.amercrystalassn.org/content/pages/main-careers.
Apotheker, Jan, and Livia Simon Sarkadi. European Women in Chemistry. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2011.
Ashton, Kevin. How to Fly a Horse: The Secret History of Creation, Invention, and Discovery. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2015.
“A Bittersweet Celebration of Crystallography.” Nature. May 29, 2014. http://www.nature.com/nmeth/journal/v11/n6/full/nmeth.2995.html.
Chemical Heritage Foundation. “Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin.” Accessed May 24, 2016. http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history/themes/molecularsynthesis-structure-and-bonding/hodgkin.aspx.
Cohen, Linda Juliana. “Dr. Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin: Chemist, Crystallographer, Humanitarian.” Almaz.com. Accessed May 26, 2016. http://www.almaz.com/nobel/chemistry/dch.html.
“Crystallography.” American Chemical Society. Last accessed May 27, 2016. http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/careers/college-tocareer/chemistry-careers/cystallography.html.
Curry, Stephen. “Seeing Things in a Different Light: How X-Ray Crystallography Revealed the Structure of Everything.” Filmed October 25, 2013. Crystallography Collection, The Royal Institution Channel, 1:02:47. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=gBxZVF3s4cU.
Del Giudice, Marguerite. “Why It’s Crucial to Get More Women into Science.” Last updated January 21, 2015. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/11/141107-gender-studieswomen-scientific-research-feminist/.
Dodson, Guy. Interview with Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, 1990. Web of Stories. Posted October 2, 2009. http://www.webofstories.com/play/dorothy.hodgkin/1 “Dorothy Hodgkin—A Lifetime of Scientific Endeavor: Celebrating the Mother of Structural Biology.” Diamond. Accessed May 31, 2016. http://www.diamond.ac.uk/Home/News/LatestNews/28_03_14.html.
Ferry, Georgina. Dorothy Hodgkin: A Life. London, UK: Bloomsbury Academic, 2014.
———. “Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin.” Trowelblazers. http://trowelblazers.com/dorothy-crowfoot-hodgkin.
———. “History: Women in Crystallography.” Nature. January 29, 2014. http://www.nature.com/news/history-women-incrystallography-1.14588.
“Georgina Ferry on X-Ray Crystallography.” Filmed 2008. Wellcome Collection, Ri Channel, 6:53. http://richannel.org/georginaferry-on-x-ray-crystallography.
Hodgkin, Dorothy Crowfoot. “The X-Ray Analysis of Complicated Molecules.” Nobel Lecture (December 11, 1964). http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1964/hodgkinlecture.pdf.
Hodgkin, Katharine. “Thatcher and Hodgkin: A Personal and Political Chemistry.” The Guardian. August 24, 2014. https://www.theguardian.com/science/political-science/2014/aug/24/thatcher-and-hodgkin-a-personal-and-political-chemistry.
“How Do X-Rays Work?” The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, 1:29. Posted November 26, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTz_rGP4v9Y.
“Mars Diffracts! X-ray Crystallography and Space Exploration.” The Royal Institution, 11:43. Posted April 17, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr_PDXyNu1E.
Mueck, Leonie. “Imagine a Crystal’s Inner Life.” Nature. July 17, 2014. http://www.nature.com/milestones/milecrystal/full/milecrystal01.html.
Newman, Paul. “Catalogue of the Papers and Correspondence of Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin, 1828–1993: Peace and Humanitarian Interests.” Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, 1994, 2012. http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/online/modern/hodgkin/hodgkin-main.html.
Nobelprize.org. “Banquet Speech.” Accessed May 26, 2016. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1964/hodgkin-speech.html.
———. “Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin—Biographical.” Accessed May 24, 2016. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1964/hodgkin-bio.html.
Perutz, Max. “Obituary: Professor Dorothy Hodgkin.” Independent. July 31, 1994. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-professor-dorothy-hodgkin-1373624.html.
Rayner-Canham, Marelene F., and Geoffrey Rayner-Canham. Chemistry Was Their Life: Pioneering British Women Chemists, 1880–1949. London: Imperial College “2014 Is the International Year of Crystallography.” International Council for Science. Accessed May 27, 2016. http://www.icsu.org/news-centre/news/top-news/2014-is-the-international-year-of-crystallography.
“Understanding Crystallography—Part 1: From Proteins to Crystals.” The Royal Institution, 7:47. Posted April 2, 2014. https://youtu.be/gLsC4wlrR2A.
“Understanding Crystallography—Part 2: From Crystals to Diamond.” The Royal Institution, 11:43. Posted April 10, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJKvDUo3KRk.
Vijayan, M. “An Outstanding Scientist and Great Humanist: An Obituary of Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin.” International Union of Crystallography. Accessed May 26, 2016. http://www.iucr.org/people/crystallographers/an-obituary-of-dorothy-crowfoot-hodgkin.
INDEX
Page numbers in boldface are illustrations. Entries in boldface are glossary terms.
Association for Women in Science, 72
atom, 16, 23, 31, 45–49, 53–54, 56, 60–61, 65, 80–81, 84, 99
atomic structure, 5–7, 13, 60–61, 65, 79, 104
atomic structures, 5, 7, 13, 79
atoms, 16–17, 23, 31, 45–49, 50, 54, 56, 60–61, 65, 80–81, 84, 99
awards and recognition, 5, 88
Bernal, J. D., 16, 20–21, 25, 29, 33–34, 55, 75, 78–79, 81–82
Bragg, Lawrence, 45, 58, 60–61
Bragg, William H., 13, 13, 38, 45, 58, 60–61, 63, 68, 73, 82
Bragg’s Law, 60–61, 99
Cambridge, 16, 23, 25, 38, 68, 70, 75, 78–79, 82
chemistry, 5–6, 12–13, 15, 23–24, 34, 38, 63, 68–71, 79–80, 88, 90, 92–94, 96, 102, 104
children, 6, 26, 27, 28, 102, 106
Communist friends, 29, 82
Crick, Francis, 38, 40, 70–71, 79
cross-disciplinary, 5
crystallography, 5–7, 12, 15–16, 23–24, 33, 38, 45–48, 51, 58, 63, 68–69, 71, 82, 84, 87, 89, 96, 99, 105–107
Diamond Light Source, 101, 104
diffraction pattern, 42, 59, 61
DNA, 37–38, 4
0, 70–71, 79, 105
Dodson, Eleanor, 93–94
Dunitz, Jack, 105–106
Egypt, 6, 9, 12
epimerization, 51
father (John Crowfoot), 9, 12, 26
Fischer, Emil, 49, 51, 107
Fleming, Alexander, 31, 49
Fourier mathematical method, 58, 65, 75, 81
Franklin, Rosalind, 38, 39, 40, 70–71, 79
Fry, Margery, 21, 66, 72–73
Glusker, Jenny Pickworth, 102–103
Harrison, Pauline, 93
Haüy, Rene-Just, 51, 56
hemoglobin, 20, 38, 76
Hitler, Adolf, 76
Hodgkin House, 29
Hodgkin Scholarship, 29
Hodgkin, Thomas, 21, 25
Howard, Judith, 69, 90–93
hypothesis, 11
insulin, 6, 20–21, 24–25, 31, 40–41, 73, 104, 109
International Union of Crystallography, 29, 71, 103
Karle, Isabella, 80–81
Klevit, Rachel, 96–97
Lonsdale, Kathleen, 55, 63, 64, 65
Mars, 97, 98, 99
Megaw, Helen, 68, 78–79, 104
mentors, 29, 34, 38, 69
microbe, 97
Millikan, Glenn, 33
molecular structure, 5, 23, 49, 51
molecules, 12, 17, 20, 25, 33, 41, 46–49, 50, 51, 54, 106, 109
mother (Grace/Molly Crowfoot), 9–13, 21, 26, 28, 40–41, 71, 79, 82
Muspratt, Helen, 28–29
Nobel Prize, 5, 7, 13, 26, 31–32, 34, 36, 38, 52, 54, 80–82, 88–89, 93–94, 96, 104–105, 107
Oxford University, 15, 62, 72, 75, 90
oxidation, 51
Patterson map, 16
Pauling, Linus, 38, 75
peace, work for, 6, 20, 29–31, 35, 37–38, 73, 109
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