Madeline
Ask a group of people who discovered DNA and the likely answer you will get is “Watson and Crick.” These are the men who claimed the discovery as their own and were rewarded the Nobel prize for it. But there is a lot more to this story that includes stealing data, misogynist treatment within the scientific community, and a premature death.
Who Discovered DNA?
The chemist who discovered DNA should be credited to Rosalind Franklin. Although she was slow in releasing her findings, her discovery and hypothesis occurred a few weeks before Watson and Crick released their findings.
Against the norm during that time, Rosalind Franklin attended Cambridge where she earned a degree in natural sciences and a PhD in physical chemistry. During her work in X-ray crystallography in February 1953 at King’s College in London she took the first photo of the double helix, now well known to be the structure of DNA.
Watson and Crick claimed that Franklin’s data helped them to their conclusion; however, Franklin’s many biographers have discovered that Watson and Crick’s claim was false. The biographers had uncovered that Watson and Crick were able to get their hands on photo 51, the first photo of the double helix structure of DNA taken by Franklin. They rushed their findings of DNA in order to beat Franklin’s announcement of the discovery. Franklin died before discovering that Watson and Crick took her fame to DNA.
Her Hidden Genius
Her Hidden Genius is a fictional tale developed from the research of these numerous biographers who studied Franklin’s life. This book brings this wronged heroine out of the shadows and into the light where she rightfully belongs. It weaves a story of who Rosalind Franklin was, the struggles she had in the scientific community, how she discovered DNA, and how the crown was taken from her after her death. Although no historical fiction book can be taken as final word, this book is a compelling way to learn about this hidden history.
