Scientist Remembered throughout History - Part III
Kathleen Lonsdale
Since the Royal Society of London's founding in 1660, it was home to some of the most celebrated researchers and scientists, 
however only the male ones. For nearly 300 years, not one woman was elected to be a part of the society because it was believed the 'less intellectual sex' would hinder the society's goal of advancing knowledge. It was not until May 1945 the first 2 women were elected to the Society, one in the biological sciences, Marjory Stephenson, and one in the physical sciences, Kathleen Lonsdale. These 2 women broke the Royal Societies glass ceiling.
Now you might be wondering how this relates to Ireland. The thing is that Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale was Irish. Born on January 28th, 1903 in Newbridge in County Kildare, Ireland, she was the youngest of 10 children. When she was 5, her mother moved her family to Essex, England to escape the political unrest and her husband. There she distinguished herself as a good student, especially in math and science. Due to her talent with STEM, she won a scholarship to Bedford College for Women, a school that was in the University of London system, and in 1922 graduated with the highest score of any University of London student. After college she joined William H. Braggs, a Nobel prize winning physicist, in his laboratory at the University College of London and later the Royal Institution.
While her career had gotten off to a good start, as soon as she married her husband Thomas Lonsdale, a chemist, in 1927, she ran into some issues. While her husband was supportive of her ability and career in science, many in the scientific community were not. A specific example was when she applied for an 1851 Exhibition Fellowship and was rejected because a married woman was not a scientist of exceptional promise. Another challenge was after she gave birth to her 3 children and she had to stay home with them. It was only due to her mathematical ability that she was able to take projects that did not need laboratory space. She also had trouble finding a permanent position until after she was elected to the Royal Society in 1945, an issue often experienced by many scientists. She had gotten a position at the University College of London as a reader in crystallography and eventually became the department chair for the department of crystallography.
Even with all these setbacks, Kathleen Lonsdale was still able to make some very important discoveries. She is most known for her work with the benzene ring in hexamethylbenzene. During her time, there was a fierce debate on whether the ring was planar or zigzag. She was able to find a way for the hexamethylbenzene crystal to crystallize so she could do stylographic analysis.
Her research was able to demonstrate that the ring was planar. She also developed a set of crystallographic reference tables. These tables would later be used to form the International Tables of Crystallography. Lonsdale also was able to calculate the distance between carbon atoms in diamond. She was able to obtain a 7 figure measurement with a new technique she developed. Even with all these accomplishments, Lonsdale's work is still not that well known.
Lonsdale's accomplishments had been obscured in part due to the work of other famous crystallographers like Dorothy Hodgkin and Rosalind Franklin. Only now is more attention focusing on her work as well as all the challenges she faced. She was finally noticed because of the groundbreaking crystallographic work she did as well as how she was successful even with all the obstacles she faced. She showed that women and parents can be scientists.
Read about more Irish scientists, including Robert Boyle, William Thomson, and Francis Beaufort.
Author: Annella Bellot, North Central College student