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Original poster

I’m looking for suggestions for women to appear on the new £50 note

63 replies

WeeMadArthur · 02/11/2018 13:39

Hi all, I’ve just seen that the Bank of England have opened nominations for the next scientist to appear on the new £50 note. They have to be British and dead, and I think it’s about time that a woman appeared on it but I’m not sure who to put forward as I worry that if I put someone less well known that it will be a wasted vote against all the better publicized male scientists. The link to the vote is app.keysurvey.co.uk/f/1348443/10fc/

OP posts:
VelvetGreen · 02/11/2018 16:49

Mary Anning was sooooo a scientist! She was never really accepted as such during her lifetime because she was 1. a woman and 2. poor, which in itself is reason to recognise her now. She was so much more than a fossil hunter. Paleontology as a science barely existed before her, though this is what she was doing before it even had a name.

Helmetbymidnight · 02/11/2018 16:48

I just did it- nice easy form- hooray thanks for alerting me to this.

ErrolTheDragon · 02/11/2018 16:43

Sure... but in the context of a vote for a scientist, not much point voting for her as a statistician (the inventor of the pie chart) as she's already had a note.

ThistleAmore · 02/11/2018 16:38

@ErrolTheDragon - yes, but as 'the Lady of the Lamp', (very 'stereotypical' caring role as a nurse, rather than her pioneering work as an analyst, which is apparently a bit too butch for some).

TinselAngel · 02/11/2018 16:38

I'd love it to be Mary Anning.

ErrolTheDragon · 02/11/2018 16:34

Florence nightingale has already had a note, surely?

ErrolTheDragon · 02/11/2018 16:33

She wasn't exactly a scientist, but I'd love to see Mary Seacole on it.

She wasn't a scientist at all, so as they're specifically looking for scientists she'd be a wasted vote in this context. TBH I think it's slightly pushing it to claim Anning and even more so Lovelace as scientists. Whereas Hodgkin was the equal of any male scientist... a vote for her isn't merely because she was a woman.

ThistleAmore · 02/11/2018 16:30

If we're going with Mary Seacole, then technically Florence Nightingale should also be recognised as a statistician.

WhatTheWatersShowedMe · 02/11/2018 16:28

She wasn't exactly a scientist, but I'd love to see Mary Seacole on it.

Helmetbymidnight · 02/11/2018 16:19

Yeah hertha ayrton was amazing- incredible life. (I first heard about her on here) Smile

www.bbc.com/ideas/videos/the-woman-who-tamed-lightning/p05ww2dh

deydododatdodontdeydo · 02/11/2018 16:14

Mary Anning is a very good call.

ErrolTheDragon · 02/11/2018 16:10

Hertha ayrton?

Wow... how had I never heard of her? I'm still Team Hodgkin for a scientist(being a former crystallographer) but if they're wanting engineers for another note then Ayrton it will be.

Do actually vote, don't just post here BTW - I've just done it, only takes a moment.

GatheringHerBrows · 02/11/2018 16:09

Oh yes, she's not dead 😄😬. I went too contemporary.

FermatsTheorem · 02/11/2018 16:01

Dorothy Hodgkin would be my too pick too.

ErrolTheDragon · 02/11/2018 15:59

A Hodgkin banknote could have some gorgeous artwork based on molecular graphics - the insulin hexamer is a beauteous thing.

Helmetbymidnight · 02/11/2018 15:57

Hertha ayrton?

ErrolTheDragon · 02/11/2018 15:53

I'm going to nominate Dorothy Hodgkin

Seconded! Not only did she win a Nobel, it was an unshared one. She had a long and very influential career, inspiring many others.

Prof Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell.

Currently fails the deadness criterion, I'm glad to say!

GatheringHerBrows · 02/11/2018 15:41

I literally get something in my eye when I think of her 😄.

GatheringHerBrows · 02/11/2018 15:40

What about the awesome woman physicist who was overlooked for a Nobel prize for the discovery of radio pulsars (her male supervisor got it instead 🙄). Then she got a big prize recently and gave most of the £ to minority groups to help them to get into science. What a woman - Prof Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell.

Cwenthryth · 02/11/2018 15:33

Ada Lovelace, Rosalind Franklin, Dorothy Hodgkin, Mary Anning all good calls - Mary Anning especially, as per the previous point about being a household name. Joining Churchill and Austen. Although I guess no one ever really knew who Elizabeth Fry was.

Would Mary Seacole count?

Other suggestions on the BBC website are Stephen Hawking and Alan Turing both of which I’d support even though they’re men, as representing disabled and gay people.

ThistleAmore · 02/11/2018 15:24

Surely this is an opportunity to get the lesser known women scientists - not that there are many well known ones, but still - into the public eye?

Yep - I also think they should be relatively contemporary, so Hodgkin or Payne. Anning and Lovelace's contributions were extraordinary, but look like 'ancient history' to girls or young women.

GatheringHerBrows · 02/11/2018 15:22

FreeSpeecher, it's not one or the other though.

Freespeecher · 02/11/2018 15:19

My suggestion would be to keep your powder dry and then vote for Grace Darling for the £20 note as it'll be seen be more people (plus will have a very dramatic picture on said note).

Bootanicbanshee · 02/11/2018 15:09

Another vote for Mary Anning!

AncientLights · 02/11/2018 15:07

Surely this is an opportunity to get the lesser known women scientists - not that there are many well known ones, but still - into the public eye? I will have a look at the poll as I'm wondering what they mean by British. Is British born enough? I hope not clearing off abroad for career reasons would remove women from the list. Cecilia Payne had to go off to America to be taken seriously so we owe her.