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Kathleen Lonsdale

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Dame
Kathleen Lonsdale
DBEFRS
Lonsdale in 1968
Born
Kathleen Yardley

(1903-01-28)28 January 1903
Newbridge, County Kildare,Ireland
Died1 April 1971(1971-04-01)(aged 68)
London,England
Alma materBedford College for Women
University College London
Known forX-ray crystallography[2][3][4]
AwardsDavy Medal(1957)
Fellow of the Royal Society[1]
Scientific career
FieldsCrystallographer
InstitutionsUniversity College London
Royal Institution
University of Leeds
Doctoral advisorWilliam Henry Bragg

Dame Kathleen LonsdaleDBEFRS(néeYardley;28 January 1903 – 1 April 1971) was a Britishcrystallographer,pacifist,andprison reformactivist. She proved, in 1929, that thebenzenering is flat by usingX-ray diffractionmethods to elucidate the structure ofhexamethylbenzene.[2]She was the first to useFourier spectral methodswhile solving the structure ofhexachlorobenzenein 1931. During her career she attained several firsts for female scientists, including being one of the first two women elected aFellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1945[1](along withMarjory Stephenson), first femaleprofessoratUniversity College London,first woman president of theInternational Union of Crystallography,and first woman president of theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

Early life and education[edit]

She was born Kathleen Yardley inNewbridge, County Kildare,Ireland.[12]She was born to English born Harry Yardley, the townpostmaster,and Jessie Cameron aBaptistof Scottish descent.

She was the youngest of ten children, four of whom died in infancy.[13]During her time living in Newbridge she attended St. Patrick's National School,[14][15]and her earliest memories were of the local Church of Ireland service and the Methodist Sunday school.[16]

Kathleen's father had issues with alcohol, which meant her family was often short on money.[17]As the unrest in Ireland became more severe Kathleen's mother separated from her father and took the rest of the family to England.[17][18]

Her family moved toSeven Kings,Essex, England, when she was five years old.[5]The family's financial troubles meant the four older children left school early to support the family. For the same reason, her brother Fred was unable to take up an educational scholarship, though he later become one of the first wireless operators.[19]

Kathleen attended Downshall Elementary school from 1908 to 1914.[20]She studied at Ilford County High School for Girls, then transferred toIlford County High Schoolfor Boys to study mathematics and science, because the girls' school did not offer these subjects. Kathleen had the highest score in physics that any student at London University ever had.[20]She graduated with aBachelor of Science(BSc) degree fromBedford College for Womenin 1922, andMaster of Science(MSc) degree in physics fromUniversity College Londonin 1924.[21]

Career and research[edit]

In 1924 she joined thecrystallographyresearch team headed byWilliam Henry Braggat theRoyal Institution.Following her marriage in 1927, she moved to theUniversity of Leeds,but continued to correspond with Bragg.[22]From 1929 to 1934, she started a family and largely stayed at home while continuing her work calculating structure factors.[23][24]Her husband Thomas Lonsdale was a textile chemist who supported his wife's research. He encouraged his wife to work from home and to go back to work when offered.[24]He worked at Silk Research Association in Leeds after they were married.[24]

In 1934, Lonsdale returned to work with Bragg at the Royal Institution as a researcher. She was awarded aDScfromUniversity of Londonin 1936 while at the Royal Institution. In addition to discovering the structure of benzene and hexachlorobenzene, Lonsdale worked on the synthesis of diamonds. She was a pioneer in the use ofX-raysto study crystals. Lonsdale was one of the first two women elected aFellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1945[1](the other was the biochemistMarjory Stephenson).

Lonsdale returned to University College London (UCL) in 1946 with the rank ofreader.[25]In 1949, she was appointed Professor of Chemistry and head of the Department of Crystallography at UCL.[5]She was the first woman to be made a professor at UCL,[26]an appointment she held until 1968 when she was namedprofessor emeritus.

As a keen table tennis player, Lonsdale made use of ping pong balls to demonstrate the molecular structure to her students. One such model—of thesilicate groupSi2O5—is in theScience Museumcollection[27]

During her later career, she became interested in stones and minerals produced in the human body e.g.kidney stonesorgall stones.[28]Some of her crystallographic models are in the collection of theScience Museum in London.

Selected publications[edit]

Library resourcesabout
Kathleen Lonsdale
By Kathleen Lonsdale
  • Simplified Structure Factor and Electron Density Formulae for the 230 Space Groups of Mathematical Crystallography,G. Bell & Sons, London, 1936.
  • "Divergent Beam X-ray Photography of Crystals,"Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society240A: 219 (1947).
  • Crystals and X-Rays,G. Bell & Sons, London, 1948.
  • “Human Stones”,Science Vol. 159, Issue 3820, pp. 1199-1207, 15 Mar 1968
  • Quakers visit Russia, Edited by Kathleen Lonsdale:an account of a visit to the Soviet Union in July 1951 by seven British Quakers, 145 pages. Published by the East-West Relations Group of the Friends Peace Committee. Other authors: Margaret Ann Backhouse,[29]B Leslie Metcalfe,Gerald Bailey,Paul S Cadbury,Mildred Creak,Frank Edmead.
  • Removing the Causes of War,1953.
  • Is peace possible?(1957)
  • Forth in Thy Name: The Life and Work of Godfrey Mowatt(1959)[30]
Photograph of a building in grey stone with columns.
The Kathleen Lonsdale building atUniversity College London

Personal life[edit]

Lonsdale plaque, Newbridge
Pamphlet written by Kathleen Lonsdale on Prison Reform in 1943
Pamphlet written by Kathleen Lonsdale on Prison Reform in 1943

After beginning her research career, in 1927 Yardley married Thomas Jackson Lonsdale. They had three children – Jane, Nancy, and Stephen. Stephen became a medical doctor and worked for several years inNyasaland(nowMalawi).[citation needed]

Lonsdale was avegetarianand teetotaller.[1]

Pacifism[edit]

Though she had been brought up in the Baptist denomination as a child, Kathleen Lonsdale became aQuakerin 1935, simultaneously with her husband. Already committedpacifists,both were attracted to Quakerism for this reason.[31]She was a Sponsor of thePeace Pledge Union.[32]

She served a month inHolloway prisonduring theSecond World Warbecause she refused to register for civil defence duties, or to pay a fine for refusing to register. During this time she experienced a range of issues which would eventually result in Lonsdale becoming aprison reformactivist[33]and she joined theHoward League for Penal Reform.[34]

"What I was not prepared for was the general insanity of an administrative system in which lip service is paid to the idea of segregation and the ideal of reform, when in practice the opportunities for contamination and infection are innumerable, and those responsible for re-education practically nil"[35]

In 1953, at theYearly Meeting of the British Quakers,she delivered the keynoteSwarthmore Lecture,under the titleRemoving the Causes of War.A self-identifiedChristian pacifist,[36]she wrote about peaceful dialogue and was appointed the first secretary of Churches' Council of Healing by the Archbishop of CanterburyWilliam Temple.[37]

Death[edit]

Lonsdale died on 1 April 1971, aged 68, from cancer.[1]

Legacy and honours[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdeHodgkin, D.M.C.(1975)."Kathleen Lonsdale (28 January 1903 – 1 April 1971)".Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society.21:447–26.doi:10.1098/rsbm.1975.0014.
  2. ^abLonsdale, K. (1929)."The Structure of the Benzene Ring in C6(CH3)6".Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences.123(792): 494–515.Bibcode:1929RSPSA.123..494L.doi:10.1098/rspa.1929.0081.
  3. ^Lonsdale, K. (1931)."An X-Ray Analysis of the Structure of Hexachlorobenzene, Using the Fourier Method".Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences.133(822): 536.Bibcode:1931RSPSA.133..536L.doi:10.1098/rspa.1931.0166.
  4. ^Lonsdale, K. (1944)."Diamonds, Natural and Artificial".Nature.153(3892): 669.Bibcode:1944Natur.153..669L.doi:10.1038/153669a0.
  5. ^abcdHudson, G. (2004). "Lonsdale, Dame Kathleen (1903–1971)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31376.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
  6. ^Staff (2004)."Kathleen Lonsdale profile".Encyclopedia of World Biography.Archivedfrom the original on 1 October 2012.Retrieved20 October2012.Or seealternative sourceArchived25 May 2011 at theWayback Machine.
  7. ^Staff (January 2003)."Chemistry World: Woman of substance".Royal Society of Chemistry.Archivedfrom the original on 3 March 2016.Retrieved20 October2012.
  8. ^Staff."Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale 1903–1971".CWP atUniversity of California.Archived fromthe originalon 5 October 2016.Retrieved20 October2012.
  9. ^Staff."Papers and correspondence of Dame Kathleen Lonsdale, 1903–1971".ArchivesHub.ac.uk.Archivedfrom the original on 23 September 2012.Retrieved20 October2012.An overview of the scope and content of the collection of Lonsdale's papers that are kept atUniversity College London.
  10. ^Reville, William (2004)."Kathleen Lonsdale – Famous Irish Scientist"(PDF).University College Cork.Archived(PDF)from the original on 30 August 2021.Retrieved20 October2012.This article first appeared inThe Irish Times,13 December 2001.
  11. ^"Archival material relating to Kathleen Lonsdale".UK National Archives.Edit this at Wikidata
  12. ^FUSIO."Charlotte House, Charlotte Street, Eyre Street, GREATCONNELL, Newbridge, KILDARE".Buildings of Ireland.Retrieved26 January2024.
  13. ^Byers, Nina; Williams, Gary (17 August 2006).Out of the Shadows: Contributions of Twentieth-Century Women to Physics.Cambridge University Press. p. 198.ISBN978-0-521-82197-1.
  14. ^"Film about Newbridge-born scientist".Retrieved26 January2024.
  15. ^"Newbridge school marks 150 years of serving community".Kildare Nationalist.16 November 2018.Retrieved26 January2024.
  16. ^Hodgkin, Dorothy Mary Crowfoot (1975)."Kathleen Lonsdale, 28 January 1903 - 1 April 1971".Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society.21:447–484.doi:10.1098/rsbm.1975.0014.ISSN0080-4606.S2CID73380010.
  17. ^ab"Paper-Research: Bio of Kathleen Lonsdale".www.paper-research.com.Archivedfrom the original on 6 May 2022.Retrieved29 March2022.
  18. ^Rayner-canham, Marelene; Rayner-canham, Geoffrey (30 December 2019).Pioneering British Women Chemists: Their Lives And Contributions.World Scientific.ISBN978-1-78634-770-1.
  19. ^Mollan, Charles (15 November 2007).It's Part of What We Are - Volumes 1 and 2 - Volume 1: Richard Boyle (1566-1643) to John Tyndall (1820-1893); Volume 2: Samuel Haughton (18210-1897) to John Stewart Bell (1928-1990): Some Irish Contributors to the Development of the Chemical and Physical Sciences.Charles Mollan. p. 1595.ISBN978-0-86027-055-3.
  20. ^abHudson, Gill (23 September 2004)."Lonsdale [née Yardley], Dame Kathleen".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31376.ISBN978-0-19-861412-8.Archivedfrom the original on 6 May 2022.Retrieved15 February2022.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
  21. ^Authier, André (1 August 2013).Early Days of X-ray Crystallography.OUP Oxford.ISBN9780191635014.Archivedfrom the original on 6 May 2022.Retrieved2 November2020.
  22. ^Wilson, Jennifer (3 July 2015)."Dame Kathleen Lonsdale (1903–1971): Her Early Career in X-ray Crystallography".Interdisciplinary Science Reviews.40(3): 265–278.Bibcode:2015ISRv...40..265W.doi:10.1179/0308018815Z.000000000117.ISSN0308-0188.S2CID146373963.Archivedfrom the original on 6 May 2022.Retrieved3 April2021.
  23. ^January 2003, Chemistry World1."Woman of substance".Chemistry World.Archivedfrom the original on 19 December 2018.Retrieved19 December2018.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  24. ^abcBaldwin, Melinda (20 March 2009)."'Where are your intelligent mothers to come from?': marriage and family in the scientific career of Dame Kathleen Lonsdale FRS (1903–71) ".Notes and Records.63(1): 81–94.doi:10.1098/rsnr.2008.0026.ISSN0035-9149.PMID19579358.
  25. ^"Kathleen Lonsdale".Astrea.University College London. 8 February 2023.Retrieved2 November2023.
  26. ^"Female Firsts: a celebration of pioneering women".UCL News.14 December 2018.Retrieved2 November2023.Crystallography specialist Dame Professor Kathleen Lonsdale, the first woman to be elected a fellow of the Royal Society and UCL's first female Professor
  27. ^"Teaching model showing Si2 O5 | Science Museum Group Collection".collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk.Archivedfrom the original on 16 November 2021.Retrieved16 November2021.
  28. ^Lonsdale, Kathleen (1968). "Human Stones".Science.159(3820): 1199–1207.Bibcode:1968Sci...159.1199L.doi:10.1126/science.159.3820.1199.PMID4886077.S2CID34902612.
  29. ^"Margaret Ann Backhouse".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/103381.ISBN9780198614111.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
  30. ^Lonsdale, Dame Kathleen (1959).Forth in Thy Name: The Life and Work of Godfrey Mowatt.Wykeham Press.Retrieved24 December2015.
  31. ^"Quakers in the World – Kathleen Lonsdale".quakersintheworld.org.Archivedfrom the original on 21 November 2018.Retrieved1 December2016.
  32. ^Wilson, J. M. (28 September 2017).Crystallographer and Campaigner: The life and work of Dame Kathleen Lonsdale FRS (1903-1971)(Doctoral thesis). UCL (University College London).Archivedfrom the original on 1 April 2021.Retrieved3 April2021.
  33. ^Lonsdale, Dame Kathleen; Page, Roger (1943).Some Account of Life in Holloway Prison for Women.Prison Medical Reform Council.Archivedfrom the original on 6 May 2022.Retrieved24 September2020.
  34. ^Logan, A. (3 November 2008).Feminism and Criminal Justice: A Historical Perspective.Springer.ISBN9780230584136.
  35. ^Brock, Peter (2004)."These Strange Criminals": An Anthology of Prison Memoirs by Conscientious Objectors from the Great War to the Cold War.University of Toronto Press.ISBN9780802086617.
  36. ^Lonsdale, Kathleen Yardley. 1957.Is peace possible?.Penguin Books. p. 95
  37. ^Harpur, Tom. 2013.The Uncommon Touch.McClelland & Stewart. p. 76
  38. ^"The Woman Engineer".www2.theiet.org.Archivedfrom the original on 16 November 2020.Retrieved24 May2019.
  39. ^ab"Most influential British women in science".royalsociety.org.Archivedfrom the original on 25 March 2017.Retrieved1 December2016.
  40. ^"Honorary Graduates 1966 to 1988 | University of Bath".Bath.ac.uk.Archivedfrom the original on 25 May 2016.Retrieved31 October2012.
  41. ^Frondel, C.; U.B. Marvin (1967). "Lonsdaleite, a new hexagonal polymorph of diamond".Nature.214(5088): 587–589.Bibcode:1967Natur.214..587F.doi:10.1038/214587a0.S2CID4184812.
  42. ^Frondel, C.; U.B. Marvin (1967). "Lonsdaleite, a hexagonal polymorph of diamond".American Mineralogist.52(5088): 587.Bibcode:1967Natur.214..587F.doi:10.1038/214587a0.S2CID4184812.
  43. ^"Dictionary of Irish Biography – Cambridge University Press".dib.cambridge.org.Archivedfrom the original on 10 August 2019.Retrieved1 December2016.
  44. ^DCU names three buildings after inspiring women scientistsArchived5 December 2017 at theWayback MachineRaidió Teilifís Éireann,5 July 2017
  45. ^"Applying for The Kathleen Lonsdale RIA Chemistry Prize | Royal Irish Academy".www.ria.ie.1 July 2020.Retrieved26 January2024.
  46. ^Mulvihill, Mary (27 January 2003)."An Irishwoman's Diary".The Irish Times.Retrieved10 December2020.
  47. ^reporter, KildareNow."Newbridge Business Centre to light up in green for St Patrick's Day".www.leinsterleader.ie.Retrieved26 January2024.
  48. ^"Diana, Princess of Wales, to be celebrated with London blue plaque".The Guardian.31 March 2021.Archivedfrom the original on 1 April 2021.Retrieved1 April2021.
  49. ^"Blue Plaques: Princess Diana and Kathleen Lonsdale among those honoured - CBBC Newsround".Archivedfrom the original on 1 April 2021.Retrieved1 April2021.
  50. ^"Princess Diana's life to be honoured with an English Heritage blue plaque - but the site is a mystery".Sky News.Archivedfrom the original on 1 April 2021.Retrieved1 April2021.
  51. ^"Dame Kathleen Lonsdale | Crystallographer and Peace Campaigner | Blue Plaques".English Heritage.Archivedfrom the original on 1 April 2021.Retrieved1 April2021.
  52. ^"Meeting Rooms".Friends House.Retrieved3 January2023.

External links[edit]

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