The story of Rosalind Franklin, who helped discover structure of DNA

Rosalind Franklin had “clear olive skin, raven black hair, and brilliant eyes that could sparkle with amusement or flash with rage.” She was “slim and quick-moving, [and] she dressed fashionably in an understated European style.” She was uncompromising with strong opinions, and no fear to share them. But she also loved to have fun, spending time with friends at small dinners in the evenings or strenuous 20 mile hikes or bike rides through the mountains on weekends. Friends said she liked to tease and had a mischievous wit.

Rosalind was born in 1920 in London, into a wealthy banking family. While her family was traditional in some regards, they were also pushing the bounds of social norms. Her uncle spent six weeks in prison in 1910 for “taking a dog whip to Winston Churchill, then a prominent antisuffragist.” And her father helped many Jews escape from Nazi Germany.

As a child, Rosalind hated dolls, hated pretend games. She was logical, literal, always seeking facts and reasons.
One time “she read through the Bible to find a reason for believing in God and concluded, ‘Well, anyhow, how do you know He isn’t a She?’

But as the only daughter for amongst three brothers for the first ten years of her life, she also wanted to be viewed as tough. She’d ignore pain, illness, once even walking blocks to a hospital in pain because there was a needle stuck in her knee.