Life
Ruth was descended from a line of distinguished scientists. According to Martin Johnson,She was the granddaughter of Ernest Rutherford, who himself won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1908, ‘for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances’ (Eve and Chadwick, 1938). Her father wasHer mother, Eileen Mary Rutherford, was the only daughter of physicist Lord Ernest Rutherford and they had four children, with Ruth as the youngest. Her mother died shortly afterward Ruth's birth.Sir Ralph Fowler Sir Ralph Howard Fowler (17 January 1889 – 28 July 1944) was a British physicist and astronomer. Education Fowler was born at Roydon, Essex, on 17 January 1889 to Howard Fowler, from Burnham, Somerset, and Frances Eva, daughter of George ...FRS (1889–1944; Milne, 1945), who was Plummer Professor of Mathematical Physics in Cambridge from 1932 to 1944.
University years
Having developed an interest in biological sciences, Ruth Fowler studied genetics in the early 1950s at the University of Edinburgh and while there, she met the physiologistCareer
Fowler and Edwards worked together on controlled ovulation induction in the mouse. In their first joint paper, published in 1957, they showed that superovulation of adults was possible. Fowler later worked on the effects ofShe was a remarkable woman who had that rare capacity to juggle three, indeed four, of the most difficult and all too often competing roles in our complex lives: successful mother, wife and scientist whose highly significant work spanned more than three decades. And for that “elite fourth” role, provided sustenance at both the intellectual and family level to a great, Nobel Laureate husband!” It was fitting therefore that when Edwards was too ill to receive the Nobel Prize in person, these words were spoken, “In the absence of this year's Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, I ask Professor Edwards' wife and long-term scientific companion, Dr. Ruth Fowler Edwards, to come forward and receive his Prize from the hands of His Majesty the King.
Selected publications
Dr. Ruth Fowler Edwards often published her work using her maiden name R.G. Fowler. * FOWLER, R. E., & Edwards, R. G. (1957). Induction of superovulation and pregnancy in mature mice by gonadotrophins. ''Journal of Endocrinology'', ''15''(4), 374–384. *Fowler, R. E. (1958). The growth and carcass composition of strains of mice selected for large and small body size. ''The Journal of Agricultural Science'', ''51''(2), 137–148. * Fowler, R. E., & Edwards, R. G. (1960). The fertility of mice selected for large or small body size. ''Genetics Research'', ''1''(3), 393–407. * Fowler, R. E., & Edwards, R. G. (1960). Effect of progesterone and oestrogen on pregnancy and embryonic mortality in adult mice following superovulation treatment. ''Journal of Endocrinology'', ''20'', 1–8. * Edwards, R. G., Fowler, R. E., Gore-Langton, R. E., Gosden, R. G., Jones, E. C., Readhead, C., & Steptoe, P. C. (1977). Normal and abnormal follicular growth in mouse, rat and human ovaries. ''Reproduction'', ''51''(1), 237–263. * Fowler, R. E., Edwards, R. G., Walters, D. E., Chan, S. T. H., & Steptoe, P. C. (1978). Steroidogenesis in preovulatory follicles of patients given human menopausal and chorionic gonadotrophins as judged by the radioimmunoassay of steroids in follicular fluid. ''Journal of Endocrinology'', ''77''(2), 161–169. * Edwards, R. G., & Fowler, R. E. (1970). Human embryos in the laboratory. ''Scientific American'', ''223''(6), 44–57. * Fowler, R. E., Fox, N. L., Edwards, R. G., & Steptoe, P. C. (1978). Steroid production from 17α-hydoxypregnenolone and dehydroepiandrosterone by human granulosa cells in vitro. ''Reproduction'', ''54''(1), 109–117.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler Edwards, Ruth British geneticists Fertility Women geneticists British women biologists 1930 births 2013 deaths 20th-century British women scientists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Wives of knights