The Royal Society to honour women in science

This week The Royal Society in London is commencing a year long celebration of the contribution women make to science. In a program of documentaries, talks and networking events the Society will be celebrating, supporting and empowering women to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM subjects) of which there is still a gender imbalance in the UK. They are commencing with a theme of celebration of the life and works of two scientists, Marjory Stephenson and Kathleen Lonsdale, who became the first women to be admitted into the Society in 1945.

Marjory Stephenson and Kathleen Lonsdale became the first women to be admitted into the Society in 1945.

The Royal Society was founded in 1660 as a place where leading intellectuals could gather and discuss the new scientific thinking and ideas of the time. For most of its history it was dominated by the presence of male members or ‘Fellows’. The twelve original Fellows met on the 28th of November 1660 and since then there have been 8.000 Fellows elected to the Society including over 280 Nobel laureates since 1900. Fellowship is conferred by election by its members and is considered as one of the greatest honours a scientist can be awarded. Alumni of the Society have been Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin to name but a few.

Originally Fellows had to meet two criteria for entry into this prestigious institution: they had to be talented scientists and men.

Originally Fellows had to meet two criteria for entry into this prestigious institution: they had to be talented scientists and men. In fact, Hertha Ayton was the first woman to be considered as a Fellow for her work and discoveries as a physicist and electrical engineer, but she was banned. This was in 1902, and at the time women were not allowed to be Fellows of the Society if they were married; they were regarded as the property of their husbands and did not meet the legal definition as independent ‘persons’, which was a requirement of the Society at the time. After equal opportunities legislation was introduced in 1919 women were permitted to become fellows, but it took another 26 years for this to actually happen when in 1945 Lonsdale and Stephenson broke through the Society’s glass ceiling for female scientists.

Marjory Stephenson was a pioneer of biochemistry and in 1928 she became the first person to isolate an enzyme from bacteria cells. Her work formed the basis upon which our current understanding of biotechnology is based, including the production of antibiotics. She led the way for all future studies of the biochemistry of bacteria by identifying the complexity of their metabolic pathways. She trained a new generation of biochemists, and for many years her book Bacterial Metabolism became an indispensable standard textbook in this field of study.

Kathleen Lonsdale was a physicist specialising in crystallography, who in 1929 described how atoms can be arranged within molecules by determining the structure of benzine. Lonsdale was a Quaker and as such was a strong advocate for the promotion of ethics in science and to use scientific discovery for the good of all humanity. In 1949 Lonsdale became the first woman to be made a professor at University College London.

The Royal Society has commissioned two documentary films which commemorate the lives and scientific achievements of Marjory Stephenson and Kathleen Lonsdale. These are now available to view on YouTube.

During this year The Society is also going to collect data to better understand the role of women in different science subjects with the aim to equalize gender diversity in STEM subjects. There is still a lot more to do in this respect.

Ian Smith