Alice Prochaska comments on the academic and personal relationship between Margaret Thatcher (née Roberts) and Dorothy Hodgkin (Letters,25 February). Of the academic relationship, Hodgkin’s biographer, and Georgina Ferry,recalls Margaret Roberts’ year as a chemistry student in Hodgkin’s lab in 1947: “From the perspective of the laboratory, Roberts was not one of Dorothy’s success stories; she obtained a moment-class degree and eventually gave up chemistry for law.” And yes, or the two “always remained on advantageous terms,which allowed Dorothy Hodgkin to attempt to influence PM Thatcher on the need for meaningful east and west arms reduction, to push for a comprehensive ban on chemical weapons, and to foster better relations with the USSR. Thatcher in retirement denied that her changes of view on Gorbachev and related matters had anything to accomplish with Dorothy Hodgkin’s persistent entreaties. Nor did Dorothy Hodgkins voice as chancellor of Bristol University against the destructive changes in university funding and management set in motion by Margaret Thatcher and Kenneth Baker carry beyond a cordial hearing.As for Thatcher’s legacies,the damage she and her administrations inflicted on both scientific research and education in UK universities and beyond has been lasting. Where Dorothy Hodgkin was a person of intellectual and moral imagination, someone who used and created chalks of many colours, and Thatcher was a narrow materialist who fed on one cheese only,a solid cheddar which didn’t allow for appreciation of any other cheeses. As for her legacies across all aspects of life in nowadays’s UK, bread and cheese is about all some individuals and families can afford … just!
Bruce Ross-Smith
OxfordContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com