Nikolaas Tinbergen – ethologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1907-1988)

We celebrate Nikolaas Tinbergen for his illustrious contributions in the field of ethology alongside his lifelong battle with depression.

About Nikolaas Tinbergen:

• Nikolaas Tinbergen FRS  The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/topics-policy/diversity-in-science/scientists-with-disabilities/nikolaas-tinbergen/
• Hinde Robert Aubrey (1990).  Nikolaas Tinbergen, 15 April 1907 – 21 December 1988 Biogr. Mems Fell. R. Soc.36547–565 http://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1990.0043

 Further resources:

• Nikolaas Tinbergen – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1973/tinbergen/facts/
• Kruuk, H. (Hans). (2003). Niko’s nature : the life of Niko Tinbergen and his science of animal behaviour. Oxford University Press.  Available in SOLO http://tinyurl.com/mr97nnvv
• Nikolaas Tinbergen FRS (1907-1988). Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Scheme https://www.oxonblueplaques.org.uk/plaques/tinbergen.html
• Alexander Technique description by Nikolaas Tinbergen, Nobel Laureate. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCxxOSIMY8U

 Oliver Sacks –neurologist and author (1933-2015) 

Oliver Sacks is one of the few scientists whose work became well-known through his published accounts of neurological case stories, particularly the adaptation of his book ‘Awakenings’ into a film starring famous American actors. He was also a man who lived at a time when he had to hide his homosexuality for fear of imprisonment or chemical castration. We are grateful to his foundation for allowing us to include this eminent Oxford alumnus in our portraiture.

About Oliver Sacks:

• Oliver Sacks https://www.oliversacks.com/about-oliver-sacks/
• Hayes, Bill (2017, March 26). My life with Oliver Sacks: ‘He was the most unusual person I had ever known’.  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/26/bill-hayes-insomniac-city-my-life-with-oliver-sacks-new-york
• Draaisma, Douwe. “Oliver Sacks (1933-2015).” Nature (London) 525.7568 (2015): 188–188. Available through SOLO http://tinyurl.com/4n7kap3a
• Kassel, Matthew (2021, April 9). Oliver Sacks in full.  https://jewishinsider.com/2021/04/oliver-sacks-documentary-ric-burns/
• Rosenthal, Michele Oliver Sacks 1933-2015­­­ https://www.queerportraits.com/bio/sacks

 Further resources:

• Altitude Films. Leaving the United Kingdom Oliver Sacks: His Own Life. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZqI1jJLSFg
• NY Academy of Medicine. Noted Neurologist Oliver Sacks Speaks at NYAM. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAJnigHxSYY&list=PLCD466A39A614E6EB
• Oliver Sacks Foundation.  Oliver Sacks: on Attending Oxford. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHYpMJjWOcs

Find the full list of the pioneering members of the scientific community featured in our portraiture on our previous blog post.

Edith Bülbring – pharmacologist and smooth-muscle physiologist (1903-1990)

About Edith Bülbring:

• Bolton, T. (1990). Bülbring, Edith – Obituary. British Journal of Pharmacology, 101(4), 771–772. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1476-5381.1990.tb14154.x
• Edith Bülbring. Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics https://www.dpag.ox.ac.uk/women-in-physiology-anatomy-genetics/edith-bulbring

 Further resources:

• Brading, A. and Bolton T.(31 December 1999). Edith Bülbring. Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. Jewish Women’s Archive. https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/bulbring-edith
• Bodleian Archives & Manuscripts. Archive of Edith Bülbring. https://archives.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/repositories/2/resources/3004

Find the full list of the pioneering members of the scientific community featured in our portraiture on our previous blog post.

Acland Map of Oxford 1854

Sir Henry Acland was a physician, educator, and Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford. One of his main interests was sanitary and public health matters. In 1854, he published his Memoir on the cholera at Oxford, in the year 1854: with considerations suggested by the epidemic. The map indicates areas of three outbreaks in 1832, 1849, and 1854 in Oxford. Very little is known about the identity of the illustrator apart from the notation that his ‘Memoir was drawn by a Lady,’ reflecting the lack of full recognition of female contributions in science in the 19th century.

More about Henry Acland and the map:

• Fox, R.  (2014, September 25). Acland, Sir Henry Wentworth, first baronet (1815–1900), physician. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. https://doi-org.ezproxy-prd.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/10.1093/ref:odnb/62
• Acland, H. W. (Henry W. (1856). Memoir on the cholera at Oxford, in the year 1854: with considerations suggested by the epidemic. J. Churchill. Available in SOLO http://tinyurl.com/wx9uhx8b
• Acland, H. W. (Henry W. (1855). Map of Oxford, to illustrate Dr. Acland’s Memoir on cholera in Oxford in 1854, : showing the localities in which cholera & choleraic diarrhœa occurred in 1854, and cholera in 1832 & 1849; together with the parts of the town described as unhealthy, by Omerod, Greenhill & Allen, and a writer in the Oxford Herald; the parts remedied since the date of their descriptions; the districts still undrained; the parts of the river still contaminated by sewers, in 1855; and the contour levels.. [Map]. J. Churchill. https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/e290f1f9-ef2c-4779-a326-42f79f69a992/

Find the full list of the pioneering members of the scientific community featured in our portraiture on our previous blog post.

Alan Turing – mathematician, computer scientist (1912-1954)

Alan Turing is remembered for breaking the German naval Enigma Code during World War II, which helped end the war earlier. He is also considered to be the forefather of modern computer science. He faced profound discrimination due to his homosexuality and his life ended tragically.  Alan Turing represents an important LGBT historical figure in science whom we honour in our portraiture.  The University of Oxford is one of the five founding universities of the Alan Turing Institute, the national institute for data science, located at the Oxford Internet Institute in St Giles, Oxford.

About Alan Turing:

• Hodges, Andrew. Alan Turing: The Enigma. https://www.turing.org.uk/
• Hodges, Andrew. Alan Turing: The Enigma. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014. Available on SOLO http://tinyurl.com/bde9ub2p
• Racster, Christopher. Decoding Alan Turing. San Francisco, California, USA: Kanopy Streaming, 2015. Film. Available on SOLO. http://tinyurl.com/53advxue

Further resources:

• Turing, Dermot. Alan Turing Decoded: The Man They Called Prof. Cheltenham: The History Press, 2021. Available on SOLO http://tinyurl.com/ms7r7ccz
• Cooper, S. B. (S. Barry), and J. van (Jan) Leeuwen. Alan Turing: His Work and Impact. Amsterdam; Elsevier, 2013.  Available on SOLO http://tinyurl.com/52736vts
• Jacobson, R. (2014, November 28) 8 things you didn’t know about Alan Turing. Science https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/8-things-didnt-know-alan-turing
• How Alan Turing Cracked The Enigma Code. Imperial War Museums. https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-alan-turing-cracked-the-enigma-code

Find the full list of the pioneering members of the scientific community featured in our portraiture on our previous blog post.

Maryam Mirzakhani – mathematician (1977-2017)

Maryam Mirzahkani is an inspiring Iranian mathematician who was the first woman to be awarded a Fields Medal.  The society for women and non-binary students studying mathematics at the university of Oxford bears her name.  Maryam visited Oxford in 2015 to meet the society and collect the Clay Mathematics Institute Research Award.

About Maryam Mirzakhani:

• Webb, J. (2014, August 12) First female winner for Fields maths medal.  BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-28739373
• 2017, July 18). A tribute to Maryam Mirzakhani. American Mathematical Society. https://www.ams.org/profession/mirzakhani/

Further Resources:

• Jacobson, H. (2017,  July 29). The world has lost a great artist in mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani. The Guardian. http://tinyurl.com/382sw7uu
• O’Connor, John; Robertson, Edmund (August 2017). Maryam Mirzakhani. MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive. https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Mirzakhani/
• About The Mirzakhani Society https://www.mirzakhanisociety.org.uk/about

Find the full list of the pioneering members of the scientific community featured in our portraiture on our previous blog post.

Alan Powell Goffe – pathologist (1920-1966)

About Alan Powell Goffe:

• Goffe, Gaia (July 2008) Between Two Worlds. BBC Caribbean.com https://www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/news/story/2008/07/080723_goffeongoffe.shtml
• Goffe, Gaia., and Judith. Goffe. Between Two Worlds:The Story of Black British Scientist Alan Goffe. London: Hansib, 2008. Available in SOLO http://tinyurl.com/2xetep7n

Further Resources:

• Edward, D.G. “Alan Powell Goffe. 9 July 1920-13 August 1966.” Journal of pathology and bacteriology 93.2 (1967): 729–734.  Available in SOLO http://tinyurl.com/yc6jdwed
• Obituary Notices. A.P.Goffe. British Medical Journal 2.531 (1966) https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.2.5512.531

Find the full list of the pioneering members of the scientific community featured in our portraiture on our previous blog post.

Mary Winearls Porter – crystallographer and geologist (1886-1980)

About Mary Winearls Porter:

• Rayner-Canham M., Rayner-Canham G. (2021) Polly Porter, Chrystallography Pioneer. Chemistry World https://www.chemistryworld.com/culture/polly-porter-crystallography-pioneer/4013486.article
• (September 2017) Mary “Polly” Winearls Porter Trowelblazers. https://trowelblazers.com/2017/09/19/mary-porter/

Further Resources:

• Price, M.T. The Corsi Collection in Oxford. Corsi Collection of Decorative Stones. http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/corsi/about/oxford

Find the full list of the pioneering members of the scientific community featured in our portraiture on our previous blog post.