Alexander Fleming vs Dorothy Hodgkin
Two child prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Alexander Fleming | Dorothy Hodgkin | |
| Field | Music | Science |
| Sub-field | Musician | Chemistry |
| Born | 1881 | 1910 |
| Died | 1955 | 1994 |
| Country of birth | SCT | Egypt |
| Star sign | Leo | Taurus |
Who they are
Alexander Fleming
In September 1928, a Scottish bacteriologist returned from his summer holiday to a cluttered laboratory at St Mary's Hospital in London, and noticed something unusual on a petri dish he had left behind. A mould had contaminated one of his cultures of Staphylococcus bacteria — and around the mould, the bacteria were dead. Alexander Fleming did not immediately grasp that he had just made the most important medical discovery of the twentieth century. But he was curious enough to look more carefully, and careful enough not to throw the dish away. That decision would eventually…
Full biography of Alexander Fleming →
Dorothy Hodgkin
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1964 — Structures of penicillin, vitamin B12 & insulin X-ray crystallography · Oxford University · Third woman Nobel Chemistry laureate Born May 12, 1910 · Cairo · Died July 29, 1994
Full biography of Dorothy Hodgkin →
What they share
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Different fields: Music for Alexander Fleming, Science for Dorothy Hodgkin.
- Born in different countries: SCT and Egypt.
- 29 years separate their births (1881 and 1910).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Alexander Fleming or Dorothy Hodgkin?
- Alexander Fleming. Alexander Fleming was born in 1881, Dorothy Hodgkin in 1910.
- What field is each of them in?
- Alexander Fleming is filed under Music (Musician). Dorothy Hodgkin is filed under Science (Chemistry).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.