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Amazon.co.uk Review
"The lives of scientists, considered as lives, almost always make dull reading". Georgina Ferry has taken it upon herself to defy the late Peter Medawar's words with this delightful life of Dorothy Hodgkin. Dorothy who? Precisely Ferry's point. This book represents a first for both women. Surprisingly this is the first biography of Hodgkin, who devoted her life to solving the structure of large complex molecules such as insulin, penicillin and vitamin B12 and for which she received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1964. It is also the first book by Ferry, a burgeoning talent in the field of science journalism. That both women emerge with their reputations considerably enhanced goes some way to compensating for previous neglect.
Ferry manages the near-miraculous in explaining the theory behind X-ray crystallography in clear and accessible terms that do not demand the powers of concentration that were perhaps Hodgkin's own greatest asset. Her personal life was characterised by distance; her childhood was spent mostly separated from her parents, she lived mainly apart from her husband Thomas although the marriage lasted until his death in 1982, and the intellectual commitment she gave to her work inevitably affected the time she had for her children. However, she maintained a lifelong friendship with her mentor J.D. "Sage" Bernal--legendary for his Marxism, voracious mind and even more voracious appetite for women--and until her death in 1994 she believed passionately in resolving international disputes through dialogue which led her to become president of the anti-nuclear group Pugwash and even to lobby a former student of hers--a certain Margaret Thatcher. Ferry treats her revelations regarding Hodgkin's relationships with an understated tact of which Hodgkin herself would have been proud. It is this skilful sensitivity that not only enables her to coax the quietly inspirational scientist out from the laboratory but also to challenge the notion that science and scientists cannot be extraordinary. --David Vincent
Review
This life of Hodgkin is in the top rank of scientific biographies, hooking the reader from the first page and keeping you absorbed to the end. --John Gribbin, Sunday Times
Ferry has brilliantly captured the flavour of a century of science --New Scientist
Georgina Ferry gives us a genuinely illuminating account of Hodgkin s life, neatly balancing the personal with the scientific... This agreeable and well-written biography... deserves great success. --Janet Browne, Times Literary Supplement
Ferry has brilliantly captured the flavour of a century of science --New Scientist
Georgina Ferry gives us a genuinely illuminating account of Hodgkin s life, neatly balancing the personal with the scientific... This agreeable and well-written biography... deserves great success. --Janet Browne, Times Literary Supplement
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The house had four attics. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The house had four attics. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (1919-1994) became an outstanding scientist in a period when it was harder than now for women to succeed in science. "with a list of honours including the Nobel prize, the Order of Merit, the Lenin Peace Prize- and the freedom of Beccles - she always gave her name as plain Dorothy Hodgkin,and insisted that the most junior of her colleagues call her simply Dorothy" It is not often that a work of scholarly biography makes the reader laugh aloud on page three without compromising the scholarship. Georgina Ferry manages to write mainly about the science, crystallography, that was Dorothy's life-long preoccupation without losing sight of the scientist herself. I am no crystallographer but the techniques and discoveries are so clearly described here that it is possible to share in the excitement of the discovery of the structure of Vitamin B12 and the frustrations in the persuit of the structure of insulin. Dorothy's marriage to Thomas Hodgkin and her life long relationship with Desmond Bernal are dealt with honesty and a sensitive understanding of what it might be like for a woman in a social circle where every one,the men at any rate, believed in free love. She does not gloss over the painful moments nor does she dwell on them with embarrassing prurience. Not only Dorothy but Thomas and Bernal emerge as convincing and likable characters. This book gives a much clearer and more sympathetic account of the political, scientific and social friendships of that group of left-wing British intellectuals than either Gary Werskey's Visible College or Maurice Goldsmith's biography Sage, which cover a similar area. The book is truthful at a scientific and a personal level . It is also very readable. Dorothy was always held up to me by my father as a shining example, " You can be a girl scientist like Dorothy Hodgkin" even at five I realised that was unlikely and was relieved to read that she hated to be called a "Role Model. None the less the book is a powerful inspiration to younger women scientists about what is possible.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A very balanced review of Dorothy Hodgkin..her work and life in general. If you are not of a 'science bias' then I would say 'read it at a relaxed pace'..there is so much to digest. What a wonderful example of a mother balancing intensive research with a home life..they sounded like a super family. This is the book for you if you have only vaguely heard of Dorothy and her work and want to know more. Inspiring. This is the book for every girl who has the 'science bias' ,but has doubts due to lack of encouragement in her chosen subject.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
as a former colleague of dorothy's i really enjoyed all the crystallographic work and people. however it is written in a very easy style and would appeal to non-specialists who have an interest in an amazing woman.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Wonderful biography
Being in the business of crystallography and x-ray physics, I can say that Georgina Ferry hits the nail on the head. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Prof. No
Illuminating and sensitive biography
I sought out this biography after reading Georgina Ferry's piece in the collection of essays Seeing Further, brought out to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society. Read more
Published on 10 May 2010 by G. Jones
Housewife and Nobel prize winner.
This is an excellent biography that provides a rounded picture of a remarkable woman.
Dorothy Hodgkin's scientific work on its own could have formed the basis for a book of... Read more
Dorothy Hodgkin's scientific work on its own could have formed the basis for a book of... Read more
Published on 11 April 2009 by I. Wallace
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