The Pioneer Women Chemists

For the women chemists for whom we have biographical information, what comes through most strongly is their enthusiasm and dedication. It is for this reason we have titled the book Chemistry Was Their Life. The women chemists of the 1880s to 1920s saw themselves as the pioneers they had to succeed for the sake of the young women who followed them. At the same time, they truly found chemistry enthralling — it was indeed the centre of their lives and, for those in academia, they were determined to convey this belief to their students. 

Where we have documentation, the women chemists readily acknowledge their appreciation of their supervisors, such as biochemist F. Gowland Hopkins (see Chap. 8), for allowing them to follow their chosen path in an environment where other prominent male chemists refused to countenance a woman student. 

In Marcia Bonta s study of the lives of pioneer American botanists, she found this same attitude  

Because most women naturalists believed that the work was all that mattered, they seemed to feel little or no rivalry toward the more powerful males in their fields and were pleased and grateful for whatever help these men gave them.2 

For consistency, all women chemists are discussed under their birth name (their married name is provided in parentheses). 

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Rayner-Canham, M. F. and Rayner-Canham, G. W. (2006). The pioneering women chemists of Bedford College, London. Education in Chemistry 43(3) 77-79. 

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