Experiments
Photograph 51
Citation Formats
General Reference
APA Style
BibTeX
Rosalind Franklin and her student Raymond Gosling used X-ray diffraction at King's College London to photograph the B form of DNA in 1952, producing an image known as Photograph 51 whose sharp central cross of spots was clear evidence of a helical structure and let its dimensions be measured precisely. In January 1953, without Franklin's knowledge or permission, her colleague Maurice Wilkins showed the photograph to James Watson, and Franklin's own unpublished analysis of the data reached Francis Crick soon after; both fed directly into the double helix model Watson and Crick published in Nature that April, which credited Franklin only in a footnote as an unpublished source. Franklin died in 1958, four years before the Nobel Prize for the DNA structure went to Watson, Crick, and Wilkins; Nobel Prizes are never awarded after death, so whether she would have shared it is debated, but that her data was essential to the model, used without her full knowledge, is not.
Facts
YearSourced to the subject's own account MethodSourced to the subject's own accountFranklin and her student Raymond Gosling used an improved, humidity-controlled X-ray camera to photograph carefully hydrated fibres of the B form of DNA at King's College London. 1 Key FindingSourced to the subject's own accountThe image's sharp central cross of reflections was definitive evidence of a helical structure and let its key dimensions be measured, evidence John Desmond Bernal called among the most beautiful X-ray photographs of any substance ever taken. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Sources
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.