Dorothy Hodgkin

Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin (12 May 1910 - 29 July 1994) was a British chemist and a pioneer in the use of X-ray crystallography to determine the three-dimensional structure of vital biomolecules. Using this technique, she successfully revealed the structures of compounds such as penicillin, vitamin B12, and insulin—breakthroughs that had a profound impact on medicine and biochemistry. For her work on vitamin B12, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964, becoming the first British woman to receive the honor.Her legacy is marked by both scientific excellence and a strong commitment to peace and international cooperation.

Quotes

• 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.
• 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.
• I used to say the evening that I developed the first x-ray photograph I took of insulin in 1935 was the most exciting moment of my life. But the Saturday afternoon in late July 1969, when we realized that the insulin electron density map was interpretable, runs that moment very close.