Needham, Dorothy M. (Dorothy Mary), 1896-1987
Variant namesDorothy Mary Moyle was born in London on 22 September 1896. She was educated at Claremont College, Stockport, St Hilary's School, Alderley Edge and Girton College, Cambridge. She passed Part II of the Natural Sciences Tripos, specialising in chemistry, in 1919 and began research with F.G. Hopkins at the Sir William Dunn Institute of Biochemistry, Cambridge. In 1924 Dorothy Moyle married Joseph Needham, a fellow worker in Hopkins's laboratory. She continued research, undertaking important work on carbohydrate metabolism in muscle. From 1930 to 1940 she was involved in pioneering work on the part played by ATP (adenosinetriphosphate) in the contraction of muscle. In 1940 Dorothy Needham joined the chemical defence research group led by Malcolm Dixon and this was followed by a period in China where Joseph Needham was Scientific Counsellor at the British Embassy in Chungking. After the war she returned to Cambridge to research on enzyme biochemistry, retiring from active research in 1963 to work on her book 'Machina Carnis: the biochemistry of muscular contraction in its historical development', published in 1971. In recognition of her work in Cambridge she was elected to the Fellowship of three Cambridge colleges: Girton, Lucy Cavendish and Gonville and Caius, where she was the first woman to be admitted to the Fellowship. She died in 1987.
From the guide to the Personal Papers of Dorothy Mary Moyle Needham, 1871-1995, (Girton College Library, University of Cambridge)
Role | Title | Holding Repository | |
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referencedIn | Personal Papers of Dorothy Mary Moyle Needham, 1871-1995 | Girton College Library, University of Cambridge | |
creatorOf | Personal Papers of Dorothy Mary Moyle Needham, 1871-1995 | Girton College Library, University of Cambridge | |
referencedIn | Joseph Needham: Papers and Correspondence, 1871-1995 | Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives | |
referencedIn | Harrison, Ross G. (Ross Granville), 1870-1959. Ross Granville Harrison papers, 1820-1975 (inclusive), 1889-1959 (bulk). | Yale University Library | |
referencedIn | William Mansfield Clark Papers, 1903-1964 | American Philosophical Society | |
referencedIn | Harrison, Ross G. (Ross Granville), 1870-1959. Ross Granville Harrison papers, 1820-1975 (inclusive), 1889-1959 (bulk). | Yale University Library |
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associatedWith | Clark, W. Mansfield (William Mansfield), 1884-1964 | person |
associatedWith | Harrison, Ross G. (Ross Granville), 1870-1959. | person |
associatedWith | Needham Dorothy Mary Moyle 1896-1987 | person |
associatedWith | Needham Joseph fl 1924 | person |
associatedWith | Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham | person |
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Person
Birth 1896-09-22
Death 1987-12-22
Britons
English