The legacy of Frederick Gowland Hopkins

The picture above is of the faculty of the Biochemistry Department at Cambridge University in 1916. Anything strike you as unusual? Yes, there are almost as many women scientists in the picture as men. And the reason for this extraordinary balance of the sexes, years before Cambridge even awarded degrees to women, is Frederick Gowland Hopkins, the head of the department, sitting in the centre of the photo. He wasn't only a groundbreaking scientist (he won a Nobel Prize for his work on vitamins), he believed strongly in equal rights for men and women. And even though many people at the time thought this was weird, he was vindicated by the fact that many of the women he worked with became important researchers in their own right.

Last week marked 150 years since Hopkins' birth. I was lucky to be invited to his old house on Grange Road in Cambridge, where his family and a group of scientists were unveiling a plaque to commemorate his achievements. If you'd like to hear what they had to say, my feature about Hopkins was on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour this morning and is available online now. To me it is amazing that his warmth and generosity are remembered to this day almost as much as his intellect and scientific achievements are

If you'd like to learn more about him, his work, and the incredible women in the photograph above, the Department of Biochemistry has put its archive online. Please check it out.