Women in Science

Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin

Scientist

Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (1910-1994) was the second woman to win an unshared Nobel Prize for chemistry (in 1964; Marie Curie had been the first in 1911). Hodgkin was not only a world-renowned theorist and mathematician but also an important pioneer in using the tools of experimental physics to elucidate the foundations of biochemical structure. Born in Cairo, Egypt, and schooled in England, Hodgkin had a childhood interest in science that would find its full expression in the realm of crystals and the technique of X-ray crystallography, wherein patterns of diffraction made by passing X-rays through crystals yielded dramatic new information about their molecular structures. With unmatched interpretive skills, Hodgkin determined the structures of penicillin, vitamin B12 and insulin, which had immediate and profound effects on disease control as well as the study of other complex substances such as DNA.

Be sure to read about how other female, African-American and other scientists helped shape our history and make our world what it is today.

Information Source: Publication Department of the Library of Congress. Photograph courtesy New York World-Telegram and Sun Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.