| Authorised form of name | Lonsdale; Dame; Kathleen Yardley (1903 - 1971) |
| Other forms of name | Kathleen |
| Other forms of surname | Yardley |
| Dates | 1903 - 1971 |
| Place of birth | Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland |
| Date of birth | 28/01/1903 |
| Place of death | London |
| Date of death | 01/04/1971 |
| Research field | Crystallography |
| Chemistry |
| Physics |
| Activity | Education:
County High School for Girls, Ilford; Bedford College for Women. BSc (1922, maths and physics and was first in the University of London lists)
Career:
Offered a research post in 1922 by W H Bragg (FRS 1907) to study the crystal structure of organic compounds by X-ray analysis; worked first at University College, London, then from 1923 at the Royal Institution, London. Working with W.T.Astbury began to apply space group theories to the study of X-ray diffraction patterns from crystals. Their important paper 'Tabulated data for the examination of the 230 space-groups by homogenous X-rays' was published by the Royal Society in 'Philosophical Transactions' in 1924. Went to Leeds (1927-1930), where she carried out important analyses of hexamethylbenzene and hexachlorobenzene crystals. International crystallographersd recognised the need for more comprehensive tables for crystal structure determination, and Lonsdale was a member of the editorial groupconcerned with the prpduction of new tables. She worked from home in the early 1930's follwing the birth of her first child, providing the structure factor formulae for each space group. The resulting 'International Tables', published in 1935, proved to be only the beginning of a project to shich she devoted much time and effort during the rest of her career, becoming Chaiman of the new Commission of Tables in 1948 and the principal editor in the production of the new volumes of 'International Tables' which first appeared in 1951. She returned to the Royal Institution in 1931 and remained there for the next fifteen years, concentrating on diamagnetic anisotropy, where her work on the magnetic anisotropy of benzil led to her studies of disorder in crystals caused by thermal motions, one of her principal research interests during the rest of her career. She was the first woman to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (1945); Reader in Crystallography, University College, London (1946), becoming Professor of Chemistry (1949). She established her own research school there and introduced two new courses in crystallography, one for undergraduates and the other for graduates. Among other wide interests, she studied methonium compounds, urinary calculi and synthetic diamonds, though her work on the 'International Tables' diverted much of her time from research. She developed divergent-beam X-ray photography of crystals and studied X-ray reflection by single crystals. She and her husband became members of the Society of Friends in 1935, which led to her refusal to register for civil defence duties, although she was willing to work as a volunteer. On her refusal to pay a fine for non-registration she was imprisoned in Holloway gaol for one month in 1943. This led to her taking an active interest in penal reform; she was made a member of the Board of Visitors, Aylesbury Prison for Women and Borstal Institution for Girls in 1949 and later served as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Visitors of a borstal in Essex. She was also concerned with world peace and ethics in science, becoming Vice-President of the Atomic Scientists Association and President of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. She attended several Pugwash Conferences on World Affairs and expressed her hope for peace in numerous articles, including a Penguin special 'Is Peace Possible?' and in lectures. She was Vice-President of the International Union of Crystallography (1960-19660, and President (1966); General Secretary of the British Association (1959-1964), President of the Physics Sections (1967) and President of the British Association (1967-1968), the first woman to hold the post. She received honorary degrees (DSc or LLD) from several universities including those of Wales, Leicester, Manchester, Oxford, Bath and Leeds.
Honours:
DBE 1956 |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 22/03/1945 |
| Age at election | 42 |
| Royal Society activity | Royal Society roles:
VP 1960-1961
Medals and prizes:
Davy Medal 1957 |
| Relationships | Married (1927) Thomas Lonsdale; two daughters, one son |
| Published works | With W.T.Astbury, 'Tabulated data for the examination of the 230 space-groups by homogenous X-rays' in 'Philosophical Transactions' 1924 |
| Sources | Sources:
DSB
Obituaries:
Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 1975 vol 21 pp 447-484, plate, by Dorothy M C Hodgkin
References:
Joan Mason, 'The Admission of the First Women to the Royal Society of London' in NR 1992 vol 46 pp 279-300, plate
Joan Mason, 'The Women Fellows' Jubilee' in NR 1995 vol 49 pp 125-140
R Singh and F Riess, 'The nobel laureate Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman FRS and his contacts with the British Scientific community in a social and political context' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 47-64
D Blow and S Wallwork, 'Prehistory of the British Crystallographic Association' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 177-186
M Baldwin, 'Where are your intelligent mothers to come from? Marriage and Family in the scientific career of Dame Kathleen Lonsdale FRS (1903-1971)' in NR 2009 Vol 63 pp 81-94 |
| Royal Society code | NA7993 |
| Reference number | Title | Date |
| IM/002803 | Lonsdale, Dame Kathleen Yardley | September 1948 |
| P/0155 | Portrait of Lonsdale, Kathleen | 1963 |
| IM/003324 | Tereshkova, Valentina | 6 February 1964 |
| IM/002806 | Lonsdale, Dame Kathleen Yardley | nd |
| IM/002808 | Lonsdale, Dame Kathleen Yardley | nd |
| IM/002804 | Lonsdale, Dame Kathleen Yardley | nd |
| IM/Meitner Graf/002805 | Lonsdale, Dame Kathleen Yardley | nd |
| RR/50/77 | Referee's report by Arthur Hutchinson, on a paper 'The structure of symm. (1-3-5) triphenylbenzene. Part I' by Boris Orelkin and Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale | 1 January 1934 |
| RR/69/227 | Letter from Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale, on a paper 'Temperature changes in the crystal structure of barium titanium oxide' by Helen D Megaw to J D Griffith Davies, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society | 2 July 1946 |
| RR/66/146 | Referee's report by Christopher Kelk Ingold, on a paper 'Diamagnetic anisotropy of organic molecules' by Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale | [March 1939] |
| RR/69/241 | Letter from Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale, on a paper 'The effect of temperature on the intensity of x-ray reflection by gold' by E A Owne and R Wilson-Williams to J D Griffith Davies, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society | 26 June 1946 |
| RR/67/275 | Referee's report by Nevil Vincent Sidgwick, on a paper 'Molecular anisotropy of urea, CO(NH2)2, and of related compounds' by Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale | 14 October 1940 |
| RR/70/126 | Referee's report by Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale, on a paper 'Magnetic properties of some paramagnetic crystals at low temperatures' by Bhagawati Charan Guha | 9 November 1950 |
| RR/69/226 | Referee's report by Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale, on a paper 'Temperature changes in the crystal structure of barium titanium oxide' by Helen D Megaw | 1946 |
| RR/69/174 | Referee's report by Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale, on a paper 'X-ray reflexions from dilute solid solutions' by Kun Huang | 1946 |
| RR/70/125 | Letter from Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale, on a paper 'Magnetic properties of some paramagnetic crystals at low temperatures' by Bhagawati Charan Guha to David Christie Martin, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society | 9 November 1950 |
| RR/69/215 | Referee's report by William Thomas Astbury, on a paper 'Divergent-beam X-ray photography of crystals' by Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale | 1945 |
| RR/69/271 | Referee's report by Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale, on a paper 'The accuracy of bond-length estimations obtained by double Fourier series methods from X-ray data' by John Monteath Robertson and John Graham White | 1946 |
| RR/70/222 | Referee's report by Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale, on a paper 'The theory of the vibrations and the Roman spectrum of the diamond lattice' by Helen M J Smith | 1947 |
| RR/69/240 | Referee's report by Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale, on a paper 'The effect of temperature on the intensity of x-ray reflection by gold' by E A Owen and R Wilson-Williams | 1946 |
| RR/69/214 | Referee's report by William Lawence Bragg, on a paper 'Divergent-beam X-ray photography of crystals' by Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale | 1945 |
| RR/69/272 | Letter from Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale, on a paper 'The accuracy of bond-length estimations obtained by double Fourier series methods from X-ray data' by John Monteath Robertson and John Graham White to David Christie Martin, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society | 3 January 1946 |
| RR/30/6 | Referee's report by Arthur Schuster, on a paper 'Tabulated data for the examination of the 230 space-groups by homogeneous X-rays' by William Thomas Astbury and Kathleen Yardley | [1924] |
| NLB/65/902 | Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir William [Henry] Bragg, FRS | 25 January 1924 |
| NLB/66/220 | Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to [Robert John Strutt] Lord Rayleigh. | 18 March 1924 |
| RR/61/50 | Referee's report by Alfred Edwin Howard Tutton, on a paper 'Structure of 1.2-diphenylbenzene (C18 H14)' by C J Birkett Clews and Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale | May 1937 |
| EC/1945/13 | Lonsdale, Dame Kathleen Yardley: certificate of election to the Royal Society | 1945 |
| NLB/70/881 | Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Mrs [Kathleen] Lonsdale; Physics Department, The University of Leeds | 28 October 1927 |
| NLB/65/928 | Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Lord Rayleigh [Robert John Strutt], FRS | 31 January 1924 |
| NLB/66/255 | Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to [Robert John Strutt] Lord Rayleigh | 27 March 1924 |
| IM/002807 | Lonsdale, Dame Kathleen Yardley | nd |
| IM/002802 | Lonsdale, Dame Kathleen Yardley | 1995 |
| WF/123 | Grant application from British Association for the Advancement of Science to the Wolfson Foundation | 1964-1974 |
| NLB/66/168 | Copy letter from James Hopwood Jeans, Secretary of the Royal Society; to [Robert John Strutt] Lord Rayleigh, FRS | 6 March 1924 |
| IM/GA/WS/1835 | Lonsdale, Dame Kathleen Yardley | nd |
| RR/39/74 | Referee's report by William Lawrence Bragg, on a paper 'The structure of the benzene ring in C6 (CH3)6' by Kathleen Lonsdale | [February 1929] |
| RR/67/266 | Referee's report by Nevil Vincent Sidgwick, on a paper 'The structure of melamine, C3N6H6' by Ellie Knaggs and Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale | September 1940 |
| RR/68/121 | Second letter from William Henry Bragg, to Alfred Charles Glyn Egerton, regarding three papers, 'Extra reflexions from the two types of diamond' by Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale, 'Reflexion and scattering of X-rays with change of frequency, I. Theoretical' and 'Reflexion and scattering of X-rays with change of frequency - II. Experimental' by Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman | 17 October 1941 |
| RR/30/7 | Referee's report by Robert John Strutt, Lord Rayleigh, on a paper 'Tabulated data for the examination of the 230 space-groups by homogeneous X-rays' by William Thomas Astbury and Kathleen Yardley | [March 1924] |
| RR/58/58 | Referee's report by Charles Galton Darwin, on a paper 'Diamagnetic anisotrophy of crystals in relation to their molecular structure' by Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale and Kariamanikkam Srinivasa Krishnan | April 1936 |
| RR/58/59 | Referee's report by Nevill Francis Mott, on a paper 'Magnetic anisotropy and electronic structure of aromatic molecules' by Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale | November 1936 |
| RR/67/276 | Referee's report by William Thomas Astbury, on a paper 'Structure and molecular anisotropy of sorbic acid, CH3 . CH : CH . CH : CH . COOH' by Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale, John Monteath Robertson and Ida Woodward | 1940 |
| RR/68/102 | Memoranda, on a paper 'Extra reflexions from the two types of diamond' by Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale | 25 October 1941 |
| RR/71/11 | Referee's report by Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale, on a paper 'Neutron diffraction' by G E Bacon and J Thewlis | [1948] |
| RR/71/40 | Referee's report by Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale, on a paper 'The refinement of atomic parameters by the technique known in X-ray crystallography as ‘the method of steepest descents’' by A D Booth | [1948] |
| RR/68/122 | Letter from Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale, to William Henry Bragg, regarding three papers, 'Extra reflexions from the two types of diamond' by Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale, 'Reflexion and scattering of X-rays with change of frequency, I. Theoretical' and 'Reflexion and scattering of X-rays with change of frequency - II. Experimental' by Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman | 18 September 1941 |
| RR/79/136 | Referee's report by Kathleen Lonsdale, on a paper 'The diffuse reflection of neutrons by a single crystal' by R D Lowde | 21 July 1953 |
| RR/79/188 | Referee's report by Kathleen Lonsdale, on a paper 'High angle Kikuchi patterns' by M N Alam, Moses Blackman and Donald William Pashley | 14 August 1953 |
| RR/71/41 | Letter from Kathleen Yardley Lonsdale, to Alfred Charles Glyn Egerton, regarding a paper 'The refinement of atomic parameters by the technique known in X-ray crystallography as ‘the method of steepest descents’' by A D Booth | 19 October 1948 |
| RR/73/222 | Referee's report by Kathleen Londsdale, on a paper 'The crystal structure of ribonuclease. I' by C H Carlisle & H Scoloudi | 18 September 1950 |
| RR/75/95 | Referee's report by Kathleen Lonsdale, on a paper 'The thermal transition in caesium chloride in relation to crystal structure' by J W Menary, Alfred Rene Jean Paul Ubbelohde and Miss Ida Woodward | 4 April 1951 |
| RR/75/129 | Referee's report by Kathleen Lonsdale, on a paper 'The work functions of copper, silver and aluminium' by Edgar William John Mitchell and John Wesley Mitchell | 2 August 1951 |
| RR/75/166 | Referee's report by Kathleen Lonsdale, on a paper 'The diffraction of thermal neutrons by single crystals' by G E Bacon | 11 July 1951 |
| RR/75/210 | Referee's report by Kathleen Londsdale, on a paper 'Measurements with crystals using polarized infra-red radiation' by J Mann and Harold Warris Thompson | 6 September 1951 |
| RR/77/179 | Referee's report by Kathleen Lonsdale, on a paper 'Septum permeation of hydrogen from flames' by F W Thompson and Alfred Rene Jean Paul Ubbelohde | 2 September 1952 |