Science & TechnologyHealthcare
A legendary life
Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Elsie Franklin
1920 – 1958
Chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose work was central to understanding DNA's structure.
Her story
A life that changed history
Rosalind Franklin used X-ray crystallography to investigate DNA, RNA, viruses, coal, and graphite. Her precise experimental work, including the evidence captured in Photo 51, was essential to identifying DNA's double-helix structure.
“Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated.”
Letter to Ellis Franklin, 1940
“In my view, all that is necessary for faith is the belief that by doing our best we shall succeed in our aims: the improvement of mankind.”
Letter to Ellis Franklin, 1940