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bibliobethreads's review
3.0
Three and a half stars from me.Rosalind Franklin is unfortunately probably best known for not achieving the recognition she should have got in life for unravelling the secrets of DNA. Instead, two scientists called Francis Crick and James Watson boldly used parts of her work to find out the secrets for themselves and published their findings which led to them winning the Nobel Prize. Personally, I was aware of the dis-service that had been done to Franklin but did not realise until reading this book exactly how much her work had contributed to the unveiling of “the molecule of life.” The book tends not to focus too much on the early part of Rosalind’s life as it is when she becomes a scientist, the true nature of this independent, determined and highly intelligent woman is realised. However, a couple of things sprang to my attention from her early life. Firstly, a letter written by one of her relations describes the young Rosalind as:
“alarmingly clever – she spends all her time doing arithmetic for pleasure & invariably gets her sums right.”
Although the word “alarmingly” is probably meant as an endearment it resonates from a time when females were not expected to be clever as managing their household and pleasing their husbands was probably the best they could amount to. It is no wonder that Rosalind has become somewhat of a feminist icon. After all, being Jewish, female and a scientist in times which were not friendly to all three is a tremendous achievement. Being a bit radical also ran in her family as her Uncle Hugh, a pro-suffragist, attempted to attack Winston Churchill with a dog whip due to his opposition to women’s suffrage. Rosalind knew herself from the age of twelve that she wanted to become a scientist and certainly fit the criteria according to Einstein:
“a scientist makes science the pivot of his emotional life, in order to find in this way the peace and security which he cannot find in the narrow whirlpool of personal experience.”
She first began to make a difference during the war where she was employed by the British Coal Utilisation Research Association studying the porous nature of coal and the density of helium. Her work there led to coals being classified, predicting their potential for fuel and for the production of essential devices i.e. gas masks. In 1946, she extended her CV and broadened her skills by studying X-ray diffraction with the French scientist Jacques Mering, a technique that would prove crucial and valuable in her later work with DNA. It was during her next post with Kings College that she finally made her mark, discovering that there were two forms of DNA and that they were helical in structure. Indeed, her X ray photographs of the molecule were pronounced by J.D. Bernal to be amongst the most beautiful X ray photographs of any substance ever taken.
Enter Watson and Crick, who were currently working on producing a model of the structure of DNA but were having a few technical problems with discovering exactly where each bit went. Papers and photographs belonging to Franklin were given to Crick on the sly causing them to pronounce that they had discovered “the secret of life.” Shockingly, they then went on to publish their paper in the journal Nature in the spring of 1953 with only a short footnote regarding the “general knowledge” of Franklin’s contribution. Franklin’s paper did follow but due to the order of publishing, it seemed only support for Watson and Crick’s amazing discovery, rather than revealing who exactly had done all the legwork. Unpublished drafts of her papers revealed that it was she alone who had discovered the overall form of the molecule with the location of the phosphate groups on the outside. Rosalind went on to carry out brilliant work on the tobacco mosaic and polio virus but tragically succumbed to ovarian cancer in 1958 at just 37 years of age.
I found this book to be an absolutely fascinating read even if I did get carried away a bit at times with the injustice done to Rosalind Franklin and the tragic end to her life. She wasn’t particularly careful when using radiation and tended to just “get on with it,” neglecting to wear appropriate protective coverings or adhere to our now stringent safety requirements when dealing with such a hazardous substance. Could this have contributed to the development of her cancer? She was also a very interesting person, perhaps a bit prickly at first and difficult to get to know but she was immensely passionate about many things besides her beloved science – for example, travelling and climbing and was a fiercely loyal friend. For me, it was wonderful to read an interesting account of a woman that made such a difference even if it was sadly not recognised in her own lifetime.
Please see my full review at http://www.bibliobeth.com
“alarmingly clever – she spends all her time doing arithmetic for pleasure & invariably gets her sums right.”
Although the word “alarmingly” is probably meant as an endearment it resonates from a time when females were not expected to be clever as managing their household and pleasing their husbands was probably the best they could amount to. It is no wonder that Rosalind has become somewhat of a feminist icon. After all, being Jewish, female and a scientist in times which were not friendly to all three is a tremendous achievement. Being a bit radical also ran in her family as her Uncle Hugh, a pro-suffragist, attempted to attack Winston Churchill with a dog whip due to his opposition to women’s suffrage. Rosalind knew herself from the age of twelve that she wanted to become a scientist and certainly fit the criteria according to Einstein:
“a scientist makes science the pivot of his emotional life, in order to find in this way the peace and security which he cannot find in the narrow whirlpool of personal experience.”
She first began to make a difference during the war where she was employed by the British Coal Utilisation Research Association studying the porous nature of coal and the density of helium. Her work there led to coals being classified, predicting their potential for fuel and for the production of essential devices i.e. gas masks. In 1946, she extended her CV and broadened her skills by studying X-ray diffraction with the French scientist Jacques Mering, a technique that would prove crucial and valuable in her later work with DNA. It was during her next post with Kings College that she finally made her mark, discovering that there were two forms of DNA and that they were helical in structure. Indeed, her X ray photographs of the molecule were pronounced by J.D. Bernal to be amongst the most beautiful X ray photographs of any substance ever taken.
Enter Watson and Crick, who were currently working on producing a model of the structure of DNA but were having a few technical problems with discovering exactly where each bit went. Papers and photographs belonging to Franklin were given to Crick on the sly causing them to pronounce that they had discovered “the secret of life.” Shockingly, they then went on to publish their paper in the journal Nature in the spring of 1953 with only a short footnote regarding the “general knowledge” of Franklin’s contribution. Franklin’s paper did follow but due to the order of publishing, it seemed only support for Watson and Crick’s amazing discovery, rather than revealing who exactly had done all the legwork. Unpublished drafts of her papers revealed that it was she alone who had discovered the overall form of the molecule with the location of the phosphate groups on the outside. Rosalind went on to carry out brilliant work on the tobacco mosaic and polio virus but tragically succumbed to ovarian cancer in 1958 at just 37 years of age.
I found this book to be an absolutely fascinating read even if I did get carried away a bit at times with the injustice done to Rosalind Franklin and the tragic end to her life. She wasn’t particularly careful when using radiation and tended to just “get on with it,” neglecting to wear appropriate protective coverings or adhere to our now stringent safety requirements when dealing with such a hazardous substance. Could this have contributed to the development of her cancer? She was also a very interesting person, perhaps a bit prickly at first and difficult to get to know but she was immensely passionate about many things besides her beloved science – for example, travelling and climbing and was a fiercely loyal friend. For me, it was wonderful to read an interesting account of a woman that made such a difference even if it was sadly not recognised in her own lifetime.
Please see my full review at http://www.bibliobeth.com
tinnuben's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Death
Moderate: Genocide, Sexism, and Antisemitism
Minor: War
jcd1013's review
4.0
3.5 stars, rounded up.
I read this book as part of a "Women's History Month" reading for one of my book clubs and I wanted a book about Rosalind Franklin written by a woman.
There was much that I enjoyed about the book - I've long been fascinated by Rosalind Franklin and there is so much that is unknown about her life, but the author spent A LOT of time describing her stylist clothes and how people found her beautiful, to dispute the portrayal of her in James Watson's memoir, and she editoralized a lot, giving motives that I'm not sure I agree with. She also was exceedingly fixated on the fact that Rosalind never was married or had a romantic relationship and went out of her way to describe her as "puritanical" (which as Rosalind was Jewish is really the wrong adjective) or childish/innocent, which I found infuriating, honestly. It was written in 2002, and as a friend said when I ranted about this: "That honestly sounds like a very 2002 way to talk about women who are inspiring - but still fashionable! And she was smart - but still hot!"
I read this book as part of a "Women's History Month" reading for one of my book clubs and I wanted a book about Rosalind Franklin written by a woman.
There was much that I enjoyed about the book - I've long been fascinated by Rosalind Franklin and there is so much that is unknown about her life, but the author spent A LOT of time describing her stylist clothes and how people found her beautiful, to dispute the portrayal of her in James Watson's memoir, and she editoralized a lot, giving motives that I'm not sure I agree with. She also was exceedingly fixated on the fact that Rosalind never was married or had a romantic relationship and went out of her way to describe her as "puritanical" (which as Rosalind was Jewish is really the wrong adjective) or childish/innocent, which I found infuriating, honestly. It was written in 2002, and as a friend said when I ranted about this: "That honestly sounds like a very 2002 way to talk about women who are inspiring - but still fashionable! And she was smart - but still hot!"
sohitmiglani's review
emotional
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
An absolutely amazing and detailed account of Franklin’s personal presence, personality, contributions to science, and the sexism.
susanj13's review
5.0
The beautifully written, inspiring life story of the lady whose thunder was unfairly stolen by the "boys in science".
happy_hiker's review against another edition
2.0
As a scientist, I was looking forward to reading this book. Going into this book, I knew quite a bit about Franklin's contributions to the discovery of the structure of DNA, but hadn't realized her involvement in uncovering the structure of some viruses and was interested to learn about her work in that area. The book starts with Franklin's childhood and its very detailed, even to the point where we are told the age at which she started menstruating. There is a heavy reliance on Franklin's written correspondence throughout the entire book; I think I may have liked this more if there were fewer excerpts straight from letters. Overall, very this is a very comprehensive look into Rosalind Franklin's life (4 stars for the research), but I didn't really enjoy reading most of the book as I found it tedious. My review reflects my overall enjoyment of this book.
walkerct's review
5.0
A thoroughly enjoyable, informative, and well-researched biography of one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century. Maddox paints a vivid and detailed account of Franklin's life, in particular her x-ray crystallography work at King's College that led directly to Watson and Crick's model of the helical structure of DNA. She covers the controversy of those times in an even-handed manner, detailing the ways in which Franklin x-ray photographs and mathematical calculations on the nature of DNA were shared with Watson and Crick by Maurice Wilkins without her knowledge. It's unfortunate that a number of factors, especially the sexism inherent in the scientific community, provided a low point in Franklin's professional life (she was unhappy for almost her entire time working at King's College) during a time of such exciting scientific discoveries. Maddox takes Watson to task especially for his incredibly unfair and inaccurate portrayal of Franklin in his book "The Double Helix".
In many ways Franklin's legacy has been defined by this time in her life (it was pretty much all I knew about her before reading this book), which is a shame, because she did so much incredible scientific work both before and after her work on DNA. She had major success in the study of coal and the tobacco mosaic virus, and hand begun working on the polio virus before her death at 37 from ovarian cancer. In that short amount of time she achieved an amount of scientific success that would have been impressive for someone twice her age. Maddox, despite not having a science background, does a great job of expressing the importance of Franklin's various discoveries.
Beyond her scientific pursuits, I was both pleased and a little surprised, given her (undeserved) reputation as being solely focused on her professional life, to discover what a rich personal life she had. Though in some ways a very proper and reserved person, Franklin was very warm and generous toward those with whom she became close. She was also passionate about fashion and travel, especially hiking. She left behind a wealth of correspondence with friends and family, and Maddox makes expert use of this to provide insight on Franklin's inner-life. I left this book with an even deeper appreciation of Rosalind Franklin as both a scientist and a human being, which to me is the mark of a successful biography. Highly recommended!
In many ways Franklin's legacy has been defined by this time in her life (it was pretty much all I knew about her before reading this book), which is a shame, because she did so much incredible scientific work both before and after her work on DNA. She had major success in the study of coal and the tobacco mosaic virus, and hand begun working on the polio virus before her death at 37 from ovarian cancer. In that short amount of time she achieved an amount of scientific success that would have been impressive for someone twice her age. Maddox, despite not having a science background, does a great job of expressing the importance of Franklin's various discoveries.
Beyond her scientific pursuits, I was both pleased and a little surprised, given her (undeserved) reputation as being solely focused on her professional life, to discover what a rich personal life she had. Though in some ways a very proper and reserved person, Franklin was very warm and generous toward those with whom she became close. She was also passionate about fashion and travel, especially hiking. She left behind a wealth of correspondence with friends and family, and Maddox makes expert use of this to provide insight on Franklin's inner-life. I left this book with an even deeper appreciation of Rosalind Franklin as both a scientist and a human being, which to me is the mark of a successful biography. Highly recommended!