In 1938, Rosalind went to Newnham College, Cambridge, to pursue her dream of being a scientist, even though her father would have preferred she went into social working. When Rosalind went to college she left behind her spiritual beliefs in the Jewish faith, as World War II was beginning and in 1939 Britain declared war on Germany. Another affect of the war was that many of her teachers had been recruited to help work for the war. Rosalind’s father did not want her to continue to attend college and wished instead for her to join the war effort, but eventually he relented, and Rosalind continued her education at Newnham College. In 1941, Franklin graduated from Newnham College with a degree in science and Second-Class Honors. Franklin then began research on coal. This was relevant to the war because of the great amount of coal being used as fuel for the war, and she used her research …show more content…
Although “the laboratory was unusual for the era: 8 of its 31 researchers were female, some in senior positions”, women were not allowed into the university dining halls or many of the bars that Rosalind’s coworkers frequented after work. When Rosalind began her fellowship, she worked on the structure of DNA. Eventually, she was asked by the head of the lab, John Randall, to work with Maurice Wilkins on DNA. There was a misunderstanding between Wilkins and Franklin on her role. Franklin was Wilkins’s equal, but he believed she was an assistant. This led to hostility in their relationship, and possibly changed the course of her career. Franklin continued her research using the x-ray diffraction techniques she was taught in Paris on DNA and made tremendous discoveries using the technique. First, Rosalind discovered that there are two types of DNA and that the combination of them makes x-rays blurry. On May 2, 1952, Rosalind’s research student, Raymond Gosling, took Photo 51. Photo 51 is an x-ray of B DNA, one of the two kinds, and it became famous because of its clarity and the information about the structure of DNA it revealed to anyone with the right knowledge. This photo was a huge breakthrough, but in 1953 Franklin was planning on leaving the laboratory and Gosling showed Photo 51 to Wilkins. Then, Wilkins showed the x-ray to James Watson, a scientist from Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge who was