1920-1958

English Physical Chemist and Molecular Biologist

Rosalind Franklin made important studies of the physical chemistry of coal and played a significant role in the determination of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, a role which was not adequately acknowledged until a number of years after her death.

Franklin was born in London. She completed her undergraduate studies in physical chemistry at Newnham College of Cambridge University in 1941 and, in 1942, began work in the laboratories of the British Coal Utilization Research Association. The structural studies of coal and coke that she carried out there produced significant results that found important applications in industrial processes. In 1945, she returned to Cambridge to receive her Ph.D.

In 1947, she left England to accept a position at the Laboratoire Centrale des Services Chimiques de l'Etat in Paris. During her continued studies of the structure of carbon in France, she...