A person who I admire :)

Rosalind Franklin

Rosalind Elsie Franklin (notting Hill, 25th july 1920 - Chelsea, 16th april 1958), was an England chemist and X-ray crystallographer.

Her story is fascinating, when Franklin was young she went to one of Einstein’s conferences and she knew that science was the purpose of her entire life, Franklin went to Cambridge University to get the Chemist grade although the problems with her father who refused the idea that Rosalind could studies something to do with science.

Afterward getting the degree she worked in Juan Randall laboratory in Cambridge that was the perfect opportunity for Rosalind to put all her knowledge in the biology, here is where she met with Wilkins who was the first person in recognize the nucleic acid in the molecule. Basically Wilkins felt that Rosalind was his rival.

Rosalind with the help of X rays could saw the DNA in the molecule (photo  51), this was a huge contribution for the science.

Wilkins took the picture and he shown it to Watson and Crick, these three persons stole Rosalind’s work, and unfortunately they received the nobel prize instead of Rosalind. After her death Wilkins recognized that he stole the picture and he gave the achievement to Rosalind’s work, but it was too late, not because she never heard his apology, the Nobel prize can’t be given to a dead person or more than three persons.  

Rosalind died with only 37 years old, product of an ovarian cancer, maybe all the radiation triggered her illness.

I like Rosalind Franklin because although all the adversities she got in her life (the opposition of her father in her career) and the sexism’s problem in those years, Rosalind with all her capacities made an amazing project and discovery, see the DNA structure perfectly how we know it now because of all her work! 

Photo 51

Rosalind Franklin