Blog 8

I picked to read Gertrude Elion’s obituary because her career is basically my life goal. She was a biochemist and a pharmacologist. I thought there would be similarities to Darwin's obituaries however that wasn't the case Elion’s obituary wasn’t anything like Darwin’s. I’m curious to know if it’s different because of the time, the fact she’s a female, the field she worked in, or some other reason. Darwin’s were more personal and talked of his character, whereas Elion’s was just listing off achievements. There was only one single sentence that talked about anything other than scientific achievements and its says “Ms. Elion was noted for her precise work, intellectual brilliance and ability to work with others.” I’m sure that more than this could have been said or at least elaborated on. I also felt like she was undermined when they brought up how she was always one step behind Dr. Hitching. She had worked with Hitching for decades but he died a year before she did. I hope that if she would have died before he had he would have made sure her obituary was more personal. Her fiancĂ© passed away before she did and she never remarried or had children. This was probably written by someone who didn’t know her on a personal level since she didn't have a husband or children.

Even though they don’t outwardly talk about her virtues I was able to make assumptions based on what was written. Because it was hard for a woman to find a laboratory position she took up many other jobs. I think this show how motivated she was as a scientist. She could have been satisfied with being a chemistry and physics teacher, but she wasn’t and didn’t give up on her dream of working in a lab. She said she wouldn’t have advanced in her career if she had children, because it wasn't socially accepted for women to work with young children. This again showing her dedication to science. The last thing I noticed was that she helped with labor shortage in WW2, this is a noble thing that only someone with a caring heart would do. 




http://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/23/us/gertrude-elion-drug-developer-dies-at-81.html?mcubz=0

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