She was a #physicist, #crystallographer, #pacifist & prison reformer. She was the 1st to employ Fourier spectral methods & used them to solve the structure of hexachlorobenzene in ‘31. In ‘45 she was one of the 1st 2 women elected Fellow of the Royal Society & was the 1st woman: tenured professor at UC London, president of the International Union of Crystallography & president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Born in poverty in Ireland, her mother left her father & 🧵2
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brought the surviving kids to England when she was 5. She graduated in #physics with the highest score ever for a London University, with a BSc from Bedford College of Women in ‘22, & MSc from UCL in ‘24. Nobel laureate W.H. Bragg offered her a spot on his team at the Royal Institution, where she worked until she married in ‘27 & followed her husband research #chemist Thomas Lonsdale to Leeds for a job. She continued to correspond with Bragg & calculated structure factors 🧵 3/5
while focusing on starting their family, from ‘29 - ‘34. Her husband supported her research & encouraged her to return to work if she could. Bragg, anxious to have her back, was able to get funding to supply her with childcare help & rehired her in ‘34. She earned her DSc from the U of London in ‘36 while working at the Royal Institution. In ‘35, the Lonsdales, both committed pacifists became Quakers. 🧵4/5
So when she was required to register for civil defence duties during WWII she refused to do so or to pay the fine. She was sentenced a month in Holloway prison, where the grim conditions lead to a life-long commitment to prison reform & activism. She died in 1971 from anaplastic cancer at age 68. 🧵5/5
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