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Rosalind Franklin
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Rosalind Franklin was a famous chemist whose research and discovery work in the 1950s led to the comprehension of the structure of DNA. There was a lot of controversy surrounding the discovery of the structure and who should receive credit for "the double helix." In 1962, four years after Franklin's death at the age of 37, three other chemists, James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins received a Nobel Prize for the double helix model of DNA. How did the other chemists beat her to it and was Rosalind Franklin cheated out of the Nobel Prize?
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Perhaps Rosalind Franklin's most amazing accomplishment is the relatively short period of time in which she contributed such valuable scientific information. She died in London of cancer on April 16, 1958, at the early age of 37. This was four years before Watson, Crick, and Wilkins received the Nobel Prizein physiology or medicine. Many people believe that Franklin's work has beenunderestimated due to her untimely death and the female prejudices of the English scientific establishment in the 1950s.
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Her photographs of DNA were called "among the most beautiful X-ray photographs of any substance ever taken," but physical chemist Rosalind Franklin never received due credit for the crucial role these played in the discovery of DNA's structure. In this sympathetic biography, Maddox argues that sexism, egotism and anti-Semitism conspired to marginalize a brilliant and uncompromising young scientist who, though disliked by some colleagues, was a warm and admired friend to many. Franklin was born into a well-to-do Anglo-Jewish family and was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge. After beginning her research career in postwar Paris she moved to Kings College, London, where her famous photographs of DNA were made. These were shown without her knowledge to James Watson, who recognized that they indicated the shape of a double helix and rushed to publish the discovery; with colleagues Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, he won the Nobel Prize in 1962. Deeply unhappy at Kings, Rosalind left in 1953 for another lab, where she did important research on viruses, including polio.
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Rosalind Franklin began her career as a physical chemist studying coal. While working in Paris, she learned the science of X-ray crystallography. In 1951 Rosalind began working on the structure of DNA at Kings College, but unfortunately she did not get along with her co-worker. Although she gave a lecture describing DNA as helical, she is not given credit for this discovery. If it were not for Rosalind's data, Watson and Crick could not have discovered the structure of DNA; ... some of this data, they got without her knowledge. In 1958 Rosalind died; four years later James Watson, Francis Crick, and her co-worker Maruice Wilkins won the Nobel Prize for their work on the structure of DNA.
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Rosalind Franklin was born July 25, 1920 in London to prosperous parents, Ellis and Muriel Waley Franklin. Mr. Franklin was a prominent banker and the family was active in community activities. Franklin attended St. Paul's Girls' School where she was an excellent student and especially enjoyed science. When she expressed her desire to become a scientist, her father strenuously disapproved. He wasn't in favor of higher education for women, and thought women should marry and do charitable work. Other family members brought pressure to the situation by offering to pay the tuition costs, and her father finally relented.
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Rosalind Franklin was born on July 25, 1920 to prosperous Jewish parents, Ellis Franklin and Muriel Franklin (nee Waley). Franklin’s father was a prominent banker. Her family was active in community service. Franklin attended the St Paul’s Girls’ School, one of the few girl’s school in London that taught science. At school Franklin was an excellent student and she developed a strong liking for science. She decided to become a scientist.
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