science

Marion Bidder

Marion Bidder is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Marion Bidder rather than just read about it. In short: Marion Bidder (née Greenwood) (26 August 1862 – 25 September 1932) was an English physiologist and one of the first women to do independent research in Cambridge. For nearly a decade, she was in charge of the Balfour Laboratory in Cambridge and in 1895 she was the first woman to speak about a paper she had written at a Royal Society meeting.

Key takeaways

Marion Bidder belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Marion Bidder to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Marion Bidder from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Marion Bidder (née Greenwood) (26 August 1862 – 25 September 1932) was an English physiologist and one of the first women to do independent research in Cambridge. For nearly a decade, she was in charge of the Balfour Laboratory in Cambridge and in 1895 she was the first woman to speak about a paper she had written at a Royal Society meeting.

Early life and education Born in Myton, Hull, she was the sixth child and her family moved to Oxenhope in 1869. Her parents were Agnes (born Hamilton) and George Greenwood. Her father was a lay preacher and a shipping agent. She attended Bradford Girls' Grammar School and won a scholarship to attend Girton College when she was 17 years old. She was one of the first women to be allowed to graduate with a double first in the natural sciences tripos. She completed botany, physiology and zoology in 1882 with more physiology in 1883. She began to study digestion after being inspired by the physiologist Michael Foster. She was one of the first women deciding her own research and she was the first winner of the Gamble Prize in 1888 for her dissertation. While doing research at Newnham College, she wrote papers on the gastric glands of pigs, effects of nicotine on invertebrates, and the physiology of protozoa. These papers appeared in the Journal of Physiology.

Career

Starting in 1888, she acted as both a lecturer and director of studies in biology as well as a tutor for female physiology students at Newnham College. Greenwood lead the Balfour Laboratory from 1890. When she married marine biologist George Parker Bidder and gave up the position 11 years later in 1899, it took four people to replace her. They moved to Plymouth, where they stayed until 1902, when they returned to Cambridge. They had two daughters; one, Anna McClean Bidder (1903–2001), was a zoologist and academic. After marrying, Bidder continued to publish works, however they were on the subject of domestic economy. In 1901, Domestic Economy in Theory and Practice was published, to which Bidder contributed on the theoretical and scientific aspects of the subject.

Later life Bidder was president of the Cambridge Women's Liberal Association and was passionate about women becoming involved in town councils. She also held the position of vice-chairman of the Cambridgeshire Voluntary Association for Mental Welfare. She was a governor of both Homerton Teacher Training College in Cambridge and of Girton College. She served as governor of Girton College until her death, she died of tuberculosis on September 25, 1932.

Illustrations

Marion Bidder: Discussions in 1896 at Newnham College. Greenwood is second from left and Edith Saunders is at right — Discussions in 1896 at Newnham College. Greenwood is second from left and Edith Saunders is at right

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Marion Bidder

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Marion Bidder claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Marion Bidder before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Marion Bidder ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Marion Bidder

In research: Marion Bidder appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Marion Bidder in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Marion Bidder is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1862 births, 1932 deaths, 19th-century English scientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Marion Bidder outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Marion Bidder in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Marion Bidder means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Marion Bidder out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Marion Bidder in simple terms?

Why does Marion Bidder matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Marion Bidder?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Marion Bidder.