The trouble with Tim Hunt's 'trouble with girls in science' comment

That sexism is alive and well in science is known. The problem is the Nobel laureate's remark could compound the striking lack of women in top positions

A handful of days ago, Tim Hunt was hardly well known outside the world of science. He won the Nobel prize for his work on cell division. He is a fellow of the Royal Society. He was knighted by the Queen. He is not one to flaunt the honour.

Until Tuesday, those were the impressive facts that defined the septuagenarian. Then came "the trouble with girls". Or rather, Hunt's contention at a conference in Seoul, delivered at a lunch held for women science journalists, that there was such a thing. The problem, he proposed, was that men and women fall in love in the lab and that this was disruptive to science. Moreover, he said, women cry when their work is criticised. For the good of science, he suggested, labs might be sexually segregated.