Women’s work: Dorothy Hodgkin and the culture and craft of X-ray crystallography
Presenter: Georgina Ferry
Published: April 2014
Age: 14-19 and upwards
Views: 1082 views
Tags: crystallography;penicillin;hodgkin;insulin
Type: Lectures
Source/institution: Royal Society
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The year 2014 was celebrated as the International Year of Crystallography. A number of successful 20th century women scientists, of whom the Nobel prizewinner Dorothy Hodgkin is perhaps the most prominent, achieved their distinction in this field. While no one has undertaken a rigorous quantitative analysis, it is common to come across statements that X-ray crystallography is particularly welcoming to women, or conversely that it is something women are particularly good at. Does either of these statements stand up?ÊGeorgina Ferry is a science writer and broadcaster.