Dorothy Hodgkin, A Life

by Georgina Ferry

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Pub Date 11 Sep 2014 | Archive Date 11 Oct 2014

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) | Bloomsbury Reader

Biographies & Memoirs | Science

Description

Dorothy Hodgkin (1910-1994) was renowned for her medically-important work on penicillin, vitamin B12 and insulin. Fully engaged with the political and social currents of her time, she participated in some of the greatest upheavals of the 20th century: women’s education; the globalisation of science; the rise and fall of communism; and international peace movements. A wife, mother and grandmother, she cared deeply about the wellbeing of individuals in all cultures.

Georgina Ferry’s biography of the only British female scientist to receive the Nobel Prize – Dorothy Hodgkin: A Life – was shortlisted for the Duff Cooper Prize and the Marsh Biography Award. Bloomsbury Reader 2014 edition is reissued with a new preface.

Dorothy Hodgkin (1910-1994) was renowned for her medically-important work on penicillin, vitamin B12 and insulin. Fully engaged with the political and social currents of her time, she...

Advance Praise

“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.” Sunday Times

“Ferry has brilliantly captured the flavour of a century of science.” New Scientist

“Georgina Ferry paints a vivid portrait of a woman passionately concerned to resolve the enigmas of chemical structures… One is left with a memorable picture of a gentle woman of exceptional talent. “A Life” indeed.” The Times

“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.” Times Literary Supplement

Marketing Plan

October 2014 marks the 50th Anniversary of Dorothy Hodgkin's Nobel Prize Nomination. There will be considerable press to mark this as well as an event at Somerville College, Oxford

Available Editions

EDITION	Other Format
ISBN	9781448214549
PRICE	£6.99 (GBP)

Additional Information

Average rating from 5 members

Featured Reviews

Stephen G, Reviewer

5 stars. Excellent biography; was hard to put down I loved this book. Author Georgina Ferry crafted an excellent overview of Dorothy Hodgkin’s life. Since Hodgkin won a Nobel Prize in science, book is more about the life and times of Hodgkin. Ferry delves into the attitudes about women in science and at universities. Ferry does cover the science, not in a lot of detail, but enough to understand the context in which Hodgkin worked and lived. Although I didn’t find Ferry’s explanation of the science satisfying, it didn’t really matter because of the broader themes of the book. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of science. And if this book appeals to you, then I also strongly recommend “Rosalind Franklin: The Dark lady of DNA” by Brenda Maddox.