Rosalind Franklin
As you might have quessed this web site is all about Rosalind
Franklin. She was born on July 25, 1920 in London, England.
Rosalind Franklin was a X-ray crystallographer who was the first
to recognize the helix shape of DNA. She recieved a great start
on her studies of physics and chemistry at St. Paul’s
Girls’ School. From there she entered Cambirdge University
in Great Britain where she continued her studies. At age 22 she
went to work as aphysical chemist at the British Coal Utilization
Research Association. She worked in a lab in Paris from 1947 to
1950 where she learned X-ray diffraction.
In 1951 Franklin left France to go to work at Kings College.
Although she was forced to work with poor equipment she
descovered a way to rig a system to take high-resolution
photographs of single fibers of DNA. In the fall of 1956 Rosalind
Franklin discovered she had cancer, she died two years later at
the age of 37.
More on the work of Rosalind Franklin
return to South Hamilton Biology
Home Page