Dr Rosalind Franklin was a biochemist and an x-ray crystallographer. While not being credited till 1968, (years after her death) she greatly contributed to finding the structure of DNA.
Rosalind Franklin received her PHD in physical chemistry from cambridge university in 1945. A few years later she moved to Paris to study crystallography (a part of science that looks at the bonding of solids). Using the information she had gained through her research of x-rays without knowing it she was able to take the first photos of the DNA structure.
Maurice Wikins was Rosalind’s senior partner and was the one to show the image to James Watson and Francis Crick. Watson used the image to confirm that our DNA is hectical shaped, Watson and Crick used the photo to create their own model of DNA. They submitted their model to the British scientific journal nature. This was all done without asking for her permission to use her data and she was not credited in any way. In 1962 they won the nobel prize for their work, with no mention of what Rosalin had done to help their discovery. In 1968 in Watsons memoir he revealed Franklin’s involvement in the discovery.
This isn’t the first nor the last time men have taken credit for a woman’s discoveries; Katherin Johnson founded the moon landing path, Lise Meitner discovered nuclear fission, Dr Chein-shiung Wu discovered the law of parity. There are hundreds of examples of women being discredited for their work and these are the only women we know about. International women’s day is about recognizing the women who have worked hard and been lost in the shadows of the patriarchy, I hope that even one of the most famous examples of women’s work being discredited gives insight into the problems that women face daily.
