Before I even begin, I want to link to this thoughtful blog entry
on the subject of Rosalind Franklin. Since my blog is just a
contribution from a novice and is meant for a more general audience, I
think this blog entry, and subsequently the Maddox biography
will give you a more nuanced idea of the situation than I can. But, I
have totally fallen in love with Rosalind Franklin. It probably has a
lot to do with the fact that my background is in photography, and it was
Franklin's x-ray crystallography that made the discovery of the
structure of DNA possible for Watson and Crick.
It wasn't until after encouragement from my really great organic chemistry professor to read Watson's memoir The Double Helix
that I really got interested in Franklin's life, because regardless of
whether or not you agree that Franklin should have been included in the
Nobel Prize for the discovery (I say yes) she was really treated
unfairly in the book by Watson. Whether or not Franklin received the
accolades she deserved based on her gender alone (I say no again, and
agree with the prevailing historical view that her personal differences
with Maurice Wilkins were a two way street) they did after all use her
photographs without her permission, gave her the shaft in a bestselling
memoir, and then only added the epilogue rescinding his awful portrayal
of her after she died. It's all fine and good that she, Watson and
Crick all ended up to be close friends, but I don't think Franklin will
ever be undeserving of any efforts folks make from here on out to point
out what an incredible and brilliant scientist she was.
Some other amazing things Rosalind Franklin accomplished in her life include:
Received Second Class Honours at Cambridge before they were even
awarding any B.A.s or M.A.s to women. (Cambridge eventually went back
and awarded these fantastic women degrees after the fact)
Made important contributions studying coal while earning her PhD.
Was a prolific writer and researcher and published oodles of work, especially on the tobacco mosaic virus and the polio virus.
Franklin has been awarded numerous accolades posthumously, so let's give her another one on this humble blog. <3
No comments:
Post a Comment