Rosalind Franklin - forgotten acientist

摘要

British x-ray crystallographer, Rosalind Franklin, played an important role in determining the structure of DNA, but her contribution often gets overlooked and for many years went unrecognised. Faced with sexism, patronising colleagues and a battle against cancer, Franklin achieved much in her short life. Franklin was born in July 1920 to a British-Jewish family. She was educated at St Paul's Girls' School and North London Collegiate School where at die age of 15 decided she wanted to be a scientist. Her father was against higher education for women and wanted the young Rosalind to become a social.worker but she fought hard and won her first major battle: her father backed down and she enrolled to study for a degree at Newnham College, Cambridge'. Women were not entitled to full degrees at the time and upon passing her finals in 1941, Franklin received a titular degree. She remained at Cambridge where she worked towards a PhD in physical chemistry, which she received in 1945.