Rachel Alcock facts for kids

Newnham College, Cambridge, where Rachel Alcock studied.

Rachel Alcock (born in 1862, died in 1939) was an English scientist who studied how living things work. She was known as a physiologist and also worked as a teacher at universities.

Rachel Alcock's Early Life and Studies

Rachel Alcock was born in Stockport, England, in 1862. When she was young, she learned from private teachers and at a special school.

Studying at Cambridge University

In 1886, Rachel went to Newnham College in Cambridge. This college was for women. She took important exams called the Natural Sciences Tripos. After her exams, she received a special scholarship called a Bathurst studentship. This allowed her to stay at Newnham and continue her studies.

Rachel focused on two main areas of research. She studied how food is digested in the body. She also looked at how nerves are spread out in simple fish. A famous British physiologist named Walter Gaskell guided her research.

Teaching and Later Studies

For a short time in 1891, and again from 1898 to 1899, Rachel Alcock taught science to women students. She taught about the structure of living things (called morphology) and anatomy (the study of body parts). She worked in a place called the Balfour Laboratory.

Later, in the late 1890s, Rachel became interested in Spanish books and writing. She spent two years in Spain, from 1914 to 1916. She studied at the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid and also spent time in Toledo. After returning to England, she went to Liverpool University in 1916. There, she earned a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree.