This biography tells the story of Rosalind Franklin, a pioneering scientist whose work in the field of X-ray crystallography helped to unlock the secrets of DNA. Born in London in 1920, Franklin was a brilliant student who excelled in physics and chemistry. She went
Rosalind Elsie Franklin was an English chemist and X-ray crystallographer. Her work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal, and graphite. Although her works on coal and viruses were appreciated in her lifetime, Franklin's contributions to the discovery of the structure of DNA were largely unrecognised during her life, for which Franklin has been variously referred to as the "wronged heroine", the "dark lady of DNA", the "forgotten heroine", a "feminist icon", and the "Sylvia Plath of molecular biology". James Watson believed that, had she not died, ideally, Franklin would have been awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.