Overview

A biography of the Nobel Prize-winning chemist and peace activist, this work paints a portrait of an accomplished woman who combined an ambitious career with family responsibilities, often at great cost.

Full Product Details

9780879695903

Table of Contents

Reviews

Why this book didn't win all the prizes going in the past year I will never know. Hodgkin was one of Britain's greatest scienctist - the first, and so far only, British woman to win the Nobel Prize for a science subject - and she lived through a time of immense social and political change. Although she admittedly came from a relatively priviledged background, the easiest way to put Hodgkin in perspective is to point out that she was clearly a vastly superior scientist to Marie Curie, who got two Nobel Prizes (essentially for the same piece of work). But Hodgkin's life was not all science. Working with J D Bernal (who probably became her lover) she was one of the intellectual left in the 1930s and later. Using crystallography, she studied the structure of insulin, penicillin and vitamin B12, contributing significantly to human health and happiness on a wide scale. Even later in life, she was a prominent activist promoting world peace and cooperation, opposing nuclear weapons and encouraging aid for third-world development. Her love of science was matched by her love for humankind, and the package makes an enthralling read that grips you from the start. In capturing Hodgkin's life with such accuracy and appeal, Ferry has also captured the heart of 20th-century science. Review by JOHN GRIBBIN (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Countries Available