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Scientist Exhibit

Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin

Chemistry

1910 – 1994 United Kingdom

Determined structures of important biological molecules using X-ray crystallography

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Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin

Overview

About Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin

Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin used X-ray crystallography to determine the three-dimensional structures of complex biological molecules. Her research clarified the structures of penicillin, vitamin B12, and insulin, demonstrating how crystallographic techniques could solve difficult chemical problems. Her work provided essential foundations for structural chemistry and drug research.

Scientific Contribution

Key Discovery

Molecular structures of penicillin, vitamin B12 and insulin

Determination of major biomolecular structures using X-ray crystallography.

Life Timeline

Important Moments

1934

career

Returns to Oxford to pursue crystallography

After doctoral work at Cambridge, Hodgkin returned to Oxford, where she remained for the rest of her scientific career.

1946

discovery

Determines the structure of penicillin

Hodgkin's X-ray crystallography work successfully established the structure of penicillin after an intensive wartime research effort.

1956

discovery

Determines the structure of vitamin B12

Hodgkin and her collaborators resolved the exceptionally complex molecular structure of vitamin B12.

1964

award

Receives the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Hodgkin received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for determining the structures of important biochemical substances using X-ray techniques.

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Institutions