Written by Gabrielle Archamabault
Edited by Giuliana Garofalo
March 13, 2019
The twentieth century is perceived as an era of great change for the status and activities of women. However, there were very few who distinguished themselves in the scientific field, and even fewer who were the recipients of Nobel prizes in the sciences. Perhaps a remarkable exception to this rule is the life and discoveries of two women, both of whom became pioneers in chemistry and ultimately won the Nobel Prize in their respective fields. The first of these two women is Marie Curie (1867- 1934), a Polish and naturalized French physicist and chemist, who undertook experimental research on radioactivity and became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, for physics in 1903, which she shared with her husband, Pierre Curie, as well as in chemistry in 1911 (EPS, p. 284, Gunderman, p. 27). Marie Curie was also the first person to win a Nobel Prize on two occasions and in two different sciences. The other prominent woman who made remarkable scientific discoveries in the twentieth century is Dorothy Hodgkin (1910- 1994), a British chemist who developed X-ray techniques for the structures of important biochemical elements and won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her research in 1964 (Beard, p. 243, Haines, Stevens, p. 134).
The lives and achievements of these two exceptional figures will be examined and compared in the following article, in reference to the idea that if one woman lays the groundwork in a given field, then perhaps others may follow in her footsteps and achieve equally remarkable and unprecedented success.
Marie Curie
Marie Curie was born as Maria Sklodowska on 7 November, 1867, in Warsaw, Congress of Poland, in the Russian Empire. She was the fifth and youngest child of two teachers, her father taught mathematics and physics and encouraged Curie and her sisters to pursue the subjects. Her mother was responsible for a prestigious boarding school for girls in Warsaw (EPS, p. 284, Gunderman, p. 26). Unable to attend an institution of higher learning because of her gender, Curie attended “Flying University,” an underground and clandestine institution of higher education in Warsaw that allowed female students in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century (Maciejewski, p. 533). While Curie attended university, she continued to educate herself by reading books, writing letters and taking instruction from tutors. She would for France to study physics, chemistry and mathematics at the University of Paris in 1891 (Yount, p. 66). It was shortly after her arrival in Paris that Curie met her future husband, Pierre Curie, a Frenchman belonging to the Petite Bourgeoisie. Pierre’s father and paternal grandfather were physicians, and helped Pierre develop his affinity for the natural sciences, which he shared with Marie (Curie, p.11).
Marie Curie, c.1920
It was alongside Pierre that Curie made her most distinguished discoveries, including the discovery of two new radioactive elements in 1898, “polonium” and “radium,” and was awarded the Nobel Prize for their research in physics in 1903 (Gunderman, p. 27). In 1911, Curie received a second Nobel Prize, this time in chemistry for conducting pioneer work in radioactivity, in which she exposed the effects of emissions on one’s health (Gunderman, p. 27). Aside from her remarkable discoveries in the sciences, Curie also distinguished herself from other scientists in a more obvious way; she was a woman who succeeded in achieving the highest point of her profession in a time when it was difficult for women to receive an education beyond secondary learning. Indeed, despite her own distinguished education at the Flying University in Warsaw and the University of Paris in chemistry and physics, Curie was the first woman to receive a doctorate degree from the University of Paris, which she was awarded in June 1903, and to become a professor at that same university (Gunderman, p. 27, 28). After the death of her husband in 1906, Curie continued to pursue her research on radioactivity and succeeded in isolating radium in 1910. She even developed an international standard for radioactive emissions: the “curie,” named for her and Pierre (The Scientific Monthly p.1).
Moreover, during the First World War, Curie continued to revolutionize scientific medicine when she promoted the use of radioactivity in field hospitals with X- rays units to help the diagnostic and healing process of wounded soldiers (Gunderman, p. 28). Believing strongly in the war effort, Curie attempted to donate the proceeds of her Nobel Prize to the French war efforts, but the French National Bank refused, and Curie decided to purchase war bonds instead. Despite her involvement during the war, Curie never received any formal recognition on behalf of the French government. However, in the 1920s, Curie’s discovery of radium was honored in France, as well as in the United States, when she toured to raise funds to finance research on radium (EPS, p. 286). She also became a fellow of the French Academy of Medicine in 1922 and continued to give lectures on her work in many countries, including Belgium, Czechoslovakia and Brazil. In August of 1922, Curie became a member of the newly created committee of the League of Nations, International Committees on Intellectual Cooperation, in which she contributed to the scientific collaboration of the League of Nations, alongside other scientists, including Einstein, Lorentz and Bergson, until her death in 1934 (EPS p. 284, 286, Sheffield, p. xxxiv).
The achievements of Marie Curie and her husband, Pierre, include the development of radioactivity, a term coined by herself, techniques to isolate radioactive chemical elements, as well as the discovery of two elements: polonium and radium. Curie’s education and contribution to science have also made her one of the most distinguished scientists in history. Indeed, she is usually the only female scientist most individuals can name. Her groundbreaking research in radioactivity and in the development of X- rays have led to generations of female scientists to be inspired by her work (Gunderman, p. 27).
Dorothy Hodgkin
The technique of the X- ray is also related to another prominent female scientist of the twentieth century, Dorothy Hodgkin (1910- 1994), a British chemist who advanced X-ray crystallography, a method used to determine molecular or atomic structures of a crystal (Haines, Stevens, p. 134). Hodgkin was also responsible for the development of the structures of insulin in the late 1960s and, like Curie, Hodgkin also won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her contributions to science in 1964. Hodgkin was born as Dorothy Crowfoot on 12 May, 1910, in Cairo Egypt, where the family spent the winter months before returning to England in the summer. Hodgkin’s father worked for the Ministry of Education and her mother, Grace Mary Crowfoot, “Molly”, was a botanist and artist who was also trained as a midwife (Haines, Stevens, p. 134). In 1921, Hodgkin entered grammar school in Beccles, England, where she was the one of two girls who were allowed to study chemistry. It was at this early stage of her life that Hodgkin developed a passion for chemistry, when her mother gifted her a book on X- ray crystallography for her sixteenth birthday (Yount, p. 127).
Dorothy Hodgkin
At the age of eighteen, Hodgkin entered Somerville College, Oxford, where she pursued her education in chemistry, and graduated with a first- class honours degree in 1932. She was only the third woman to achieve these accolades (Haines, Stevens, p. 134). Her research in X- ray crystallography began when she was conducting research for her doctorate degree at Newnham College, Cambridge, and completed her thesis in 1937. In the spring of that same year, Hodgkin met Thomas Lionel Hodgkin, and the two were married in December (Haines, Stevens, p.135). Similar to Curie, who offered her expertise during the First World War, Hodgkin and her colleagues worked on the structure of penicillin, which was the most complex molecule in X- ray crystallography, during the Second World War, even though the results were not published until 1949 (Haines, Stevens, p. 135). After the War, from 1945 to 1955, Hodgkin was employed at Somerville, College at the University of Oxford, as a demonstrator in crystallography, and from 1955 to 1960 as a reader in X- ray crystallography. Finally she worked as a Wolfson Professor, appointed by the Royal Society, at Oxford University from 1960 to 1977 (Haines, Stevens, p. 134). Perhaps the most recognized accomplishment of Hodgkin’s career is her “determination by X- ray techniques of the structures of important biochemical substances, in particular vitamin B- 12,” for which she won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964 (Beard, p. 243).
It was during her time working as a professor at Oxford that Hodgkin taught Margaret Thatcher, then Margaret Roberts, who became the first female prime minister of Britain, and perhaps Hodgkin’s best- known student. Thatcher was pursuing a degree in chemistry and worked as a research chemist while also being politically involved, leading the Oxford Conservative Association (Thiel, p. 90). Two years after graduation, Thatcher began attempting to win a political seat, only to be finally elected into the House of Commons in 1959 and becoming prime minister in 1979. Hodgkin likely kept in touch with her former student, despite her disapproval of some of her political policies (Thiel, p. 90). Nevertheless, one may also measure Hodgkin’s legacy by the historical figures and scientists she had contact with and inspired. This theory can also be applied to “the Iron Lady,” as both women were pioneers in their respective fields and, despite Thatcher not pursuing a career in science after studying under Hodgkin, she shared similar qualities with her instructor. Moreover, to return to Curie and her accomplishments, which do not only include radioactive research, but also how she inspired other women, one may argue that the lasting legacy of these women is also how their own struggles, perseverance and success opened the doors to many more.
Sources:
Beard, Mary. “Down among the Women (Nobel Laureates).” The Kenyon Review 23, no. 2 (Spring 2001): 239-47. Accessed February 26, 2019. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4338226. Curie, Marie. Pierre Curie: With Autobiographical Notes by Marie Curie. 2nd ed. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2012. E. P. S. “Madame Marie Sklodowska Curie.” The Scientific Monthly 39, no. 3 (September 1934): 284-86. Accessed February 26, 2019. https://www.jstor.org/stable/15722. Gunderman, Richard B. X-Ray Vision: The Evolution of Medical Imaging and Its Human Significance. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. Haines, Catherine, and Helen M. Stevens. International Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary to 1950. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC- Clio, 2001. Maciejewski, Witold. The Baltic Sea Region: Cultures, Politics, Societies. Uppsala: Baltic University Press, 2002. Sheffield, Suzanne Le-May. Women and Science: Social Impact and Interaction. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2011. Thiel, Kristin. Dorothy Hodgkin: Biochemist and Developer of Protein Crystallography. New York: Cavendish Square Publishing, 2017. Yount, Lisa. A to Z of Women in Science and Math. New York: Facts on File, 2008.
Comments