Background
Bertha Swirles was born in Northampton in 1903, attended Northampton School for Girls and then went up to Girton College, in 1921, to read Mathematics, graduating with first class Honours.
Bertha Swirles was born in Northampton in 1903, attended Northampton School for Girls and then went up to Girton College, in 1921, to read Mathematics, graduating with first class Honours.
She was associated with Girton College, University of Cambridge, as student and Fellow, for over 70 years. She became a research student of Ralph Fowler, one of a distinguished company of his students that included Paul Dirac and Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. She was awarded her Doctor of Philosophy in 1929, by which time she was an Assistant Lecturer in Manchester.
She followed with similar posts in Bristol and then at Imperial College (then the Royal College of Science), London in the 1930s.