Dorothy Maud Wrinch facts for kids

Dorothy Maud Wrinch (born September 12, 1894 – died February 11, 1976) was a brilliant mathematician and scientist. She was known for trying to figure out how proteins are built using math. Dorothy Wrinch also supported a debated idea called the 'cyclol' hypothesis about protein structure.

Early Life and Education

Dorothy Wrinch was born in Rosario, Argentina in 1894. Her father, Hugh Edward Hart Wrinch, was an engineer. Her family soon moved back to England, and Dorothy grew up in Surbiton, near London.

In 1913, she went to Girton College, Cambridge, a famous university. She studied mathematics and graduated in 1916. She was a "wrangler," which means she got top honors in math.

Working with Bertrand Russell

After Cambridge, Dorothy studied mathematical logic with the famous philosopher Bertrand Russell in London. She helped him with his writing projects when he was in prison for his anti-war views. She also helped get a book by another philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, published.

Dorothy was very active in intellectual groups. She met many important thinkers and scientists of her time.

Career in Oxford

In 1920, Dorothy received a special research fellowship. This allowed her to work on any area of science she chose. She earned two advanced degrees, an MSc and a DSc, from the University of London.

In 1922, she moved to Oxford after getting married. For the next 16 years, she held various research and teaching jobs at Oxford's women's colleges. She became the first female Lecturer in Mathematics at the University. In 1929, she made history again as the first woman to receive an Oxford DSc degree.

Dorothy Wrinch wrote many papers on math and how science works. She worked with Harold Jeffreys on ideas about scientific method. Their work became the basis for his important book, Scientific Inference.

Focus on Proteins

Around 1932, Dorothy Wrinch became very interested in theoretical biology. She helped start a group called the 'Theoretical Biology Club'. This group wanted to understand how proteins work to explain life itself. Other famous scientists like J. D. Bernal and Dorothy Hodgkin were also part of this group.

Dorothy developed her own idea about protein structure, which she called the "cyclol" structure. This idea caused a lot of debate. Another famous chemist, Linus Pauling, disagreed with her. Dorothy didn't have much training in chemistry, which made it harder for her to defend her ideas. By 1939, new evidence showed her model was likely incorrect. However, her work helped lead to the idea of the Hydrophobic effect, which is important for how proteins fold.

Later Life in the United States

In 1939, Dorothy Wrinch and her daughter moved to the United States. She taught at several colleges in Massachusetts, including Amherst College, Smith College, and Mount Holyoke College. From 1942 until she retired in 1971, she worked as a researcher at Smith College.

Dorothy Wrinch died in Falmouth, Massachusetts in 1976. Dorothy Hodgkin, a Nobel Prize winner, wrote that Dorothy Wrinch was a "brilliant and controversial figure" who helped start much of today's research in molecular biology. She also described her as "gay, enthusiastic and adventurous, courageous in face of much misfortune and very kind."

Personal Life

In 1922, Dorothy married John William Nicholson, a mathematical physicist who had been her graduate supervisor. They had one daughter named Pamela, born in 1927.

Dorothy wrote a book called Retreat from Parenthood in 1930. She used the pen name Jean Ayling for this book. It was about how society could be changed to make it easier for parents to balance raising children with their professional lives. Her husband became ill in the late 1920s. In 1937, Dorothy was granted a divorce. In 1941, she married Otto Charles Glaser, a biology professor. He helped her get teaching jobs in the US.

The Retreat from Parenthood (1930)

In her book, Dorothy Wrinch talked about the challenges professional women faced when they had children. Often, having children meant they had to stop their careers. She also pointed out that parents might not have all the knowledge needed to raise children well, especially about things like healthy food or the best environment for a child's growth. She believed that understanding these things scientifically took a lot of time away from a parent's job.

To solve these problems, Wrinch suggested creating "Child Rearing Services" (C.R.S.). These services would help parents with almost every part of raising a child. She imagined four main parts to the C.R.S.:

• C.R.S.A. would help make homes better for children. This included things like electrical work, plumbing, soundproofing, and ensuring hot water.
• C.R.S.B. would handle the daily tasks of child rearing, like changing diapers, preparing meals, doing laundry, and cleaning.
• C.R.S.C. would focus on food. They would make sure food was safe, inspect it, and plan healthy diets for children. Their goal was to ensure every child got the best possible nutrition.
• C.R.S.D. would provide all the medical, nursing, and psychological help needed for the health of both parents and children, from pregnancy until the child started school.

See also

In Spanish: Dorothy Maud Wrinch para niños