Lonsdale, Kathleen

Kathleen Lonsdale was born on January 28, 1903 in the small town of Newbridge in the county of Kildare , Ireland . She was the tenth child in the family of city postmaster Harry Yardley and Jesse Cameron. When she was 5 years old, her family moved to Essex County in England . ^[4] She attended Woodford County High School for Girls, and then transferred to Ilford County High School for Boys to study mathematics and science, as these subjects were not taught at the girls' school. At the age of 16, she entered Bedford College for Women in London , where she received a bachelor 's degree in science in 1922. In 1924, she received a master 's degree in physics from University College London . ^[11] Among her examiners was W. G. Bragg , a Nobel laureate in physics in 1915, who, noting Kathleen's outstanding academic abilities, invited her to work on studying the crystal structure of organic compounds by means of x-ray crystallography. Lonsdale later wrote about him:

“He inspired me with his love of pure science and the enthusiastic spirit of research, but at the same time he gave me freedom so that I could follow my own scientific path”

- ^[6]

C. Lonsdale has collaborated with W. Bragg since 1922, first at University College London . Her master's thesis was related to the study of the structure of succinic acid and similar compounds. Having completed the research, in 1924 she published an article in collaboration with a colleague of W. Bragg Thomas Atsbury. The publication contained, among other things, elements of the theory of spatial groups , including a mathematical description of the symmetry of crystals ^[12] . Then, in 1924, she joined the crystallography group led by W. Bragg at the Royal Institute , and worked there until 1927. In August 1927, she married and left with her husband from London to Leeds . There, Lonsdale continued her work at the University of Leeds . The subject of her study was the structure of hexamethylbenzene. In 1929, she proved that he had a flat shape, which ran counter to Bragg's beliefs - he believed that hexamethylbenzene was “wrinkled”, but despite this, he supported Kathleen's theory ^[3] . This discovery caused a wide response in the scientific community. A colleague of W. Bragg, Professor K. N. Trublad said:

“Her experimental determination of the structure of the benzene ring by X-ray diffraction, which showed that all CC bonds in the ring are the same length and all internal CCC bond angles are 120 degrees, had a huge impact on organic chemistry”

- ^[13]

In 1930, Lonsdale returned to London . Between 1929 and 1934, Lonsdale spent most of her time raising her three children. ^[14] Working at home, she developed tables of structural factors of spatial groups , which she published in 1936 in her work “Simplified structural factors and electron density formulas for 230 spatial groups of mathematical crystallography”; these tables are currently used by crystallographers. She also edited the International Tables of X-ray Crystallography (1935) ^[6] . In 1934, Lonsdale returned to work with Bragg at the Royal Institute as a researcher. There were difficulties with x-ray equipment at the time, but Kathleen continued her research with an electromagnet . She confirmed the existence of molecular orbitals by experimentally establishing the difference between sigma and pyrbitals. In the process, Lonsdale drew attention to the thermal vibrations of the atoms of the crystal lattice , she concluded that using diverging X-rays, one can measure the distance between carbon atoms . ^{[15] [16] [17]}

She was awarded a Ph.D. in 1936 by the University College London at the Royal Institute . In addition to studying the structure of benzene and hexasmethylbenzene, Lonsdale also worked on the synthesis of diamonds . She was one of the first to use X-rays to study crystals. In 1945, C. Lonsdale became one of the first women to be included in the Royal Community (along with biochemist Magoria Stevenson). ^[3] In 1946, she began working at University College London. In 1949, she became a professor of chemistry and the head of the department of crystallography at this college. Lonsdale dealt with many problems of crystallography: for example, she studied the structure of diamonds and minerals at high temperatures and pressures in collaboration with South African scientist Judith Grenville-Wells (Milledge) since 1949 ^[3] .

In the 1960s, she tried to understand the nature of urinary stones in the human body. As a demonstration material at lectures, Kathleen showed an x-ray of the bladder stone of the French emperor Napoleon III ^[3] . She was the first full-time female professor at University College London, Lonsdale held this position until 1968, receiving the title of “Emeritus Professor Emeritus”. Her friend and contemporary, a 1964 Nobel laureate in chemistry, Dorothy Hodgkin , recalled:

“It feels like she owned all the crystallography in her time”

- ^[13]

Selected Publications

• Simplified structural factor and electron density formulas for 230 spatial groups of mathematical crystallography, G. Bell & Sons, London, 1936.
• Divergent beams of X-ray photography of crystals, philosophical works of the Royal Society 240A: 219, 1947.
• Crystals and X-rays, G. Bell & Sons, London, 1948.
• Quakers visit Russia , 1952.
• Elimination of the causes of war, 1953.
• Is peace possible ?, 1957.
• Next is Your name: the life and work of Godfrey Mowett, 1959. ^[18]

• In 1956, she became the female commander of the Order of the British Empire . ^[nineteen]
• In 1966, she was elected the first woman president of the International Union of Crystallographers . ^[nineteen]
• In 1967, she was engaged in activities related to encouraging young people to engage in science, she was elected the first woman president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science . ^[four]
• There are buildings named after her at University College London , at the University of Limerick ^[20] , and at Dublin City University ^[21] .
• In 1969, Bath University awarded her an honorary doctorate. ^[22]
• Lonsdaleit , an allotropic form of carbon , was named after her; it is a rare very hard form of diamond found in meteorites . ^{[23] [24]}

In August 1927, Kathleen Yardley married Thomas Jackson Lonsdale. They had three children - Jane, Nancy and Stefan. Stefan became a doctor and worked for several years in Nyasaland (now Malawi ).

Pacifism

Although Lonsdale was raised in a Baptist family, she became a Quaker with her husband in 1935. They were already adherents of the pacifists , and for this reason they were attracted to Quakerism. ^[25] Lonsdale was a sponsor of the Peace Pledge Union . She served a month in Holloway Prison during World War II because she refused to register for civil defense duties or pay a refusal penalty. During this time, she experienced a number of difficulties that ultimately led to Lonsdale becoming an activist in prison reform ^[26] and joining the Howard League for criminal reform . ^[27]

“What I was not ready for was the general madness of the government system, which verbally supports the idea of ​​separation and the ideal of reform, when in practice the possibilities for corruption and infectiousness are countless, and there are practically no those who would be responsible for re-education "

- ^[28]

In 1953, at the annual meeting of British Quakers, she gave a presentation by Swarthmore Lecture entitled "Addressing the Causes of War." As a self-proclaimed Christian pacifist ^[29] , she wrote about peaceful dialogue and was appointed first secretary of the Council of Churches by Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple ^[30] .

Death

Lonsdale died on April 1, 1971 at the age of 68 from anaplastic cancer of unknown origin.

• Science in the Making Kathleen Lonsdale's papers in the Royal Society's archives