Who was Rosalind Franklin? Many descriptions come to mind: to her parents "a "practical, unsentimental, literal-minded, and not imaginative- child, to King's College ""difficult,"" "intense,"" "austere- Rosy, to James Watson "clearly a silly "damned woman- playing a man's game. However, despite these age-old monotone portrayals, Rosalind Franklin is now more accurately depicted today. She was the genius who virtually solved the mystery of DNA structure by herself and was, in the end, cheated out of both life as well as the highest earned recognition for her numerous contributions to the scientific revolution "the Nobel Prize. .
Growing up in the midst of World War II must have been difficult- especially for a Jewish woman aspiring to acquire the title of scientist. Even her own father struck her with a resentful opposition initially when he refused to support her dream by of attending Cambridge University. It took the heavy strain of three very irate women to ultimately change his mind, which turned out to be one of the best pride worthy decisions of the century. At Cambridge, her war effort work on the efficiency of coal and carbon earned her a Ph.D. in physical chemistry and a foot into the door of the scientific community. She also began her pioneering career in crystallography here before moving and working in France for three years.
After France, at the age of 29, Rosalind "got down to business- at King's University in England "analyzing X-ray photographs of DNA molecules- for a Mr. John Randall. Kings University proved to be a polar experience for her however. It gave the .
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feeling of an exclusive boys' club, omitting women from even dining with their counter male co-workers and therefore probably missing out on many valuable scientific discussions that might have catalyzed their work as a whole. On the bright side, this is where she discovered DNA existed in two forms: A and B.