The Anonymous Widower

How Chemistry Overcame Politics

I sometimes describe myself as an engineer/scientist, despite the fact that I made most of my money by programming computers.

So this morning, this article entitled Thatcher and Hodgkin: How chemistry overcame politics,  on the BBC’s web site caught my eye. Here’s the introduction.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dorothy Hodgkin’s Nobel Prize, a play – The Chemistry Between Them – has been written, looking at her friendship with Margaret Thatcher. Its creator Adam Ganz describes their ongoing mutual respect.

Whether you love or hate Margaret Thatcher, you must read the article about the relationship between two of the most influential British women of the twentieth century. There is this significant paragraph.

It’s a peculiar fact that the UK’s Margaret Thatcher and Germany’s Angela Merkel both studied science at university, yet no male leader of either country has had a science degree.

Is the lack of scientific knowledge amongst world leaders the reason, why the world is in such a mess?

I shall be listening to the play on Radio 4.

As regards the play, I can’t think of a serious play or film, with the exception of The Killing of Sister George and Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?, that has two female leads and no significant male parts.

August 19, 2014 - Posted by AnonW | World | Margaret Thatcher, Plays, Politics, Radio, Science