Catalysts get helping hands

We know very little about Elizabeth Fulhame. We know she was married to a physician. We know she was interested in staining cloth. And we know this interest led her – against her husband’s advice – to experiment and ultimately publish her discovery of catalysis in 1794. This discovery has revolutionised society in a way no other chemical concept has. Her brilliance, and sex, astonished the scientific community of the day. More than anything she showed that the best scientific viewpoint can sometimes come from the most unexpected angle.