She took one of the most important photos in human history, yet almost no one knew her name.
In 1952, Rosalind Franklin captured Photo 51 using X-ray crystallography. That single image revealed the double-helix structure of DNA—the blueprint of life itself. Without it, the discovery of how our genetic code is structured might not have happened so soon.
But her photo was shown to James Watson and Francis Crick without her knowledge. They used it to build their iconic DNA model and later received the Nobel Prize in 1962, while Franklin had already passed away at just 37.
For decades, history nearly overlooked her contribution. Today, we honour Rosalind Franklin as the scientist whose quiet brilliance helped unlock the secret of life.