Dorothy Hodgkin

thumb|Dorothy Hodgkin Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin OM FRS (May 12, 1910 – July 29, 1994) was a British chemist, credited with the discovery of protein crystallography. She pioneered the technique of X-ray crystallography, a method used to determine the three dimensional structures of biomolecules. Among her most influential discoveries are the confirmation of the structure of penicillin that Ernst Boris Chain had previously surmised, and then the structure of vitamin B12, for which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In 1969, after 35 years of work and five years after winning the Nobel Prize, Hodgkin was able to decipher the structure of insulin. Quotes Would it not be better if one could really 'see' whether molecules...were just as experiments suggested? the question that decided her to specialize in X-ray cristallography, as quoted by Sharon Bertsch McGrayne Nobel Prize women in science: their lives, struggles, and momentous discoveries Joseph Henry Press 1998 http://books.google.com/books?id=-PqK3zxkRrIC&pg=PA231 0-309-07270-0 231 One's tendency when one is young is to do experiments just to see what will happen, without really looking for specific things at all. I first set up a little laboratory in the attic at home just to grow crystals or try experiments described in books, such as adding a lot of concentrated sulfuric acid to the blood from a nosebleed which precipitates hemotin from the hemoglobin in the blood. That was quite a nice experiment. I still remember it. interviewed by Olivia Cox-Fill For our daughters: how outstanding women worldwide have balanced home and career Greenwood Publishing Group 1996 http://books.google.com/books?id=UBqr_MEn4m4C&printsec=frontcover#PPA171,M1 0-275-95199-5 171 I once wrote a lecture for Manchester University called « Moments of Discovery » in which I said that there are two moments that are important. There's the moment when you know you can find out the answer and that's the period you are sleepless before you know what it is. When you've got it and know what it is, then you can rest easy. interviewed by Olivia Cox-Fill For our daughters: how outstanding women worldwide have balanced home and career Greenwood Publishing Group 1996 http://books.google.com/books?id=UBqr_MEn4m4C&printsec=frontcover#PPA176,M1 0-275-95199-5 176 External links http://dorothyhodgkin.com/quick-hits/quotes/ Category:University of Oxford faculty Category:Chemists from England Category:Biologists from England Category:Women scientists from England Category:Nobel laureates in Chemistry Category:People from Cairo Category:1910 births Category:1994 deaths Category:Fellows of the Royal Society Category:Nobel laureates from England Category:Quakers Category:Lenin Peace Prize recipients Category:University of Cambridge alumni Category:University of Oxford alumni Category:Women Nobel laureates