About Janette Dunlop
Lived 1891 – 1971 (aged 80). Janette Dunlop was a physicist and teacher.
Janette Gilchrist Dunlop (10 March 1891 – 8 May 1971) was a Scottish physicist who studied X-ray scattering. She later became a teacher and lived most of her life in Edinburgh.
Life and research Dunlop was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, the daughter of hat maker David M Dunlop, who ran her grandfather David Dunlop's hat business in Edinburgh.
After graduating from George Watson's Ladies College, she studied physics at the University of Edinburgh graduating with honors in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy and with a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in 1914. Funded by a Carnegie Research Fellowship, she conducted research at the University of Edinburgh under the direction of physicist Charles Glover Barkla. The first sentence of that joint paper shows that Dunlop, "one of the writers," was an important contributor to the experimental work:The results of experiments made by one of the writers on the radiation proceeding from substances containing only light elements when these were exposed to Röntgen radiation led to the conclusion that this radiation, as observed under ordinary experimental conditions, was almost purely a scattered X-radiation and that the scattering particles were not the ions or atoms, but the constituent electrons. However, with the end of the First World War, teachers in Scotland were in short supply and, according to Fara, Dunlop's "research career was abruptly terminated when she was obliged to become a science teacher because of the national shortage." She trained at Moray House and the University of Edinburgh, and qualified as a teacher with honors in 1917. She went on to teach at two schools in Edinburgh, George Watson's Ladies College and George Heriot's School, and at another school in London.
She died in Edinburgh in 1971 at 80 years of age.
Awards Dux of George Watson's Ladies College 1909 Donald Fraser Scholarship from Edinburgh University Carnegie Research Scholarship following graduation
Publication Barkla, Ch G., and Janette G. Dunlop. "XXX. Note on the scattering of X-rays and atomic structure." The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science 31.183 (1916): 222-232.
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Important facts
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Frequently asked questions
Who was Janette Dunlop?
Scottish physicist, teacher (1891-1971)
When was Janette Dunlop born?
Janette Dunlop was born on 10 March 1891 in Edinburgh.
When did Janette Dunlop die?
Janette Dunlop died on 8 May 1971 in Edinburgh.
What was Janette Dunlop's occupation?
Janette Dunlop was a physicist and teacher.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Janette Dunlop. https://biography.guide/janette-dunlop/
MLA: "Janette Dunlop." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/janette-dunlop/.
Chicago: "Janette Dunlop." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/janette-dunlop/.
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