Dorothy Hodgkin(1910 — 1994)
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin
Royaume-Uni
8 min read
British chemist (1910-1994)
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin naît en 1910 en Égypte, dans une famille britannique passionnée d'archéologie et de sciences.
- Elle développe la technique de la cristallographie aux rayons X pour déterminer la structure tridimensionnelle de molécules biologiques complexes.
- En 1945, elle élucide la structure de la pénicilline, contribuant au développement des antibiotiques.
- En 1964, elle reçoit le prix Nobel de chimie pour la détermination par rayons X de la structure de substances biochimiques importantes, notamment la vitamine B12.
- Elle est la troisième femme à recevoir le prix Nobel de chimie et milite toute sa vie pour la paix et la coopération scientifique internationale.
Works & Achievements
Elucidation of the exact molecular structure of penicillin by X-ray crystallography. This discovery enabled the industrial synthesis of the antibiotic and saved millions of lives during and after the Second World War.
Determination of the three-dimensional structure of vitamin B12, the most complex biological molecule ever analysed by crystallography at the time. This work was the primary reason she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
After 35 years of effort, Dorothy published the complete three-dimensional structure of insulin. This monumental breakthrough opened the way to a detailed understanding of diabetes and the development of improved synthetic insulins.
A major methodological contribution that standardised X-ray crystallography techniques and served as a reference for an entire generation of researchers in structural chemistry.
As president of the Pugwash organisation, Dorothy Hodgkin used her Nobel prestige to actively campaign for world peace, nuclear disarmament, and international scientific cooperation between the Eastern and Western blocs.
Anecdotes
Dorothy Hodgkin solved the structure of penicillin in 1945, a feat considered impossible by many of her male colleagues. She used X-ray crystallography, a technique she mastered better than anyone, to reveal the exact arrangement of atoms in this molecule vital to medicine.
When she received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964, a major British newspaper ran the headline: 'Oxford grandmother wins Nobel' — deliberately ignoring her professorship and her decades of pioneering research. This anecdote illustrates the gender bias she faced throughout her career without ever letting it discourage her.
Dorothy had suffered from rheumatoid arthritis since adolescence, which progressively deformed her hands. Despite constant pain and increasingly stiff joints, she continued to handle her crystals and work in the laboratory well into old age, refusing to let the disease define her limits.
The structure of insulin, which she began studying in 1934, was not fully elucidated until 1969 — 35 years of relentless work. This titanic project mobilised entire teams and was one of the first to use computers to analyse thousands of crystallographic data points.
Margaret Thatcher, a former student of Dorothy's at Oxford, kept a portrait of her teacher in her office at Downing Street. Yet the two women held radically opposing political convictions: Dorothy Hodgkin actively campaigned for world peace and nuclear disarmament, and served as president of the Pugwash organisation.
Primary Sources
«The X-ray analysis of complicated molecular structures has been developed during the last thirty years into a powerful method for their direct determination.»
«We have found the structure of penicillin — it is a beta-lactam ring. The result is extraordinary and rather beautiful.»
«The structure of penicillin has been determined by X-ray crystallographic analysis of a number of derivatives, all pointing to a beta-lactam structure.»
«The structure of vitamin B12 is one of the most complex natural products whose structure has been determined by X-ray analysis.»
«Scientists bear a particular responsibility for the consequences of their discoveries. We must speak out for peace and against the misuse of science.»
Key Places
Where Dorothy completed her higher education and worked for most of her career. Oxford was her intellectual home for over sixty years, despite the institutional barriers faced by women.
Laboratory where Dorothy worked with J.D. Bernal and discovered her vocation for X-ray crystallography. This legendary site of British physics shaped her scientific method.
Dorothy's birthplace in 1910, where her father worked for the British educational service. She spent her early years there and developed a fascination for mineral crystals in the desert.
The town where Dorothy Hodgkin resided in the final years of her life, and where she died in 1994. She is commemorated there by a plaque and remains a source of local pride.
The venue where Dorothy presented several of her major discoveries and participated in the great British scientific conferences of the 20th century.
Liens externes & ressources
Références
Œuvres
Structure de la pénicilline
1945
Structure de la vitamine B12
1956
Structure de l'insuline
1969
Atlas des structures moléculaires par diffraction X
1951
