Her Hidden Genius

On January 8, 1951

London, England

Rosalind arrives at the Biophysics Research Unit at King’s College, London, having left Paris after discovering Jacques Mering’s deception. She unfavorably compares The Thames to the Seine and misses Paris. Professor John Randall, head of the unit, gives her a tour and explains what her role will be in the unit. Rosalind is shocked to learn that she will be using X-ray crystallography to study DNA rather than crystals. She has no background in this area and feels an immediate sense of anxiety. Randall does not put her at ease, especially when he responds coolly to the kind of quick humor that had been so common in her lab in Paris. She realizes that she will have to re-adapt to British culture and an entirely different working environment. Randall then introduces her to her new doctoral student, Raymond Gosling. He welcomes her to the unit, calling it a “circus,” and Rosalind wonders what she has gotten herself into.

On January 13, 1951

London, England

Rosalind hosts her parents and her brother, Colin, and his wife, Charlotte, for dinner in her new Chelsea flat. Her father, Ellis, dislikes the French dish Rosalind has prepared, but Colin and his wife both enjoy it.