Her Hidden Genius

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. Although Rosalind is not entirely happy to be back in London, she is pleased at the growing sympathy between her and Colin. He often takes her side when conflict arises with their father. Ellis objects to more than the cuisine: He also questions the value of Rosalind’s career compared with family, faith, and the kind of philanthropic work he would prefer her to be doing. Rosalind defends her research, explaining that she studies the mechanism of life and genetic inheritance. She invokes Erwin Schrödinger’s interdisciplinary views to state her commitment to her scientific purpose.

On January 30, 1951

London, England

Rosalind and Ray discuss their experimental design in the lab. They are both excited, and he begins to speak informally, praising their work. He immediately apologizes for his use of the word “bloody”, but Rosalind explains that she is used to a French lab in which cursing is common, and people often let out whoops of joy when the work goes well. She adds that he also shouldn’t treat her any differently because she is a woman. He quickly explains that it wasn’t because of her gender that he apologized but because she is so “posh.” Rosalind is taken aback; she hadn’t been aware of a class difference between them. She assures him that she doesn’t think of herself that way and that they can speak informally together. Getting back to their work, they agree they need clear, multi-angle X-ray images and controlled humidity to solve the structure. A man bursts in and introduces himself as Maurice Wilkins, the unit’s assistant director. He speaks in a presumptuous tone and seems territorial about the lab. He addresses Rosalind as “miss” rather than “doctor,” and she takes an instant disliking to him.

On February 8, 1951

London, England

Gosling tells Rosalind he previously worked on the DNA project with Wilkins, which surprises her, as Randall had presented the assignment as hers alone. She reflects that a man of Wilkins’s education and experience should have been able to solve the problem that she has been hired to work on. She is irritated to have been misled so much about the nature of this job and about who her real colleagues would be. Later, Wilkins appears, offering unsolicited help on the project. She declines, and he appears angry and offended. At lunch, Wilkins steers his male colleagues to the all-male dining room, forcing Ray to choose. Rosalind tells him to go with them and eats alone. Once again, she is working in a British lab in which she is isolated and undervalued.

On March 23, 1951

London, England

Rosalind and Ray compare X-ray photographs taken at different humidity levels and discover two distinct DNA forms. She names the dry, crystalline pattern the A form and the wet, paracrystalline pattern the B form. They are elated at their discovery, and Rosalind invites Ray to the dinner she is hosting the following evening. There, her friend, Freda, warns Rosalind that she overheard Wilkins angrily confronting Randall about her. Wilkins believed Rosalind was hired as his assistant and wonders why she is attempting to take a lead role in their research. Randall, Freda explains, never corrected the misunderstanding.

June 30, 1951

Uppsala, Sweden

At a conference, Rosalind is happy to run into her former colleague, Vittorio Luzzati. He tells her that everyone at the labo misses her, even Jacques. Not wanting to discuss her former lover, Rosalind quickly proceeds to an account of her recent discoveries: The DNA has two forms and appears to be a helix. She also shares her strained relationship with Wilkins and the misunderstanding about her having been hired to work as his assistant that the lab’s head failed to clarify. Vittorio concludes Wilkins resents that a woman has succeeded where he failed and will try to take credit for her work. He advises her to share data sparingly and remain guarded about her findings.

July 24, 1951

London, England

Rosalind attends a conference at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge. She compares it unfavorably to the conference she attended in Uppsala but does enjoy the chance to hear about other scientists’ new research. At one point, Rosalind sees Wilkins talking animatedly with Cavendish researcher Francis Crick. During a subsequent session on DNA, Wilkins presents Rosalind’s preliminary data without permission and announces that the observed pattern points to a helix. Afterward, Rosalind confronts him: The data is not yet ready to be presented, and he did not obtain her permission before sharing it at the conference. She asserts her authority over this project, which she was led to believe would be hers, and demands he stay away from her research.

On August 13, 1951

London, England

Rosalind returns to King’s after a holiday in Brittany. While there, a friend suggested to her that her manner of speaking to people is overly brusque, and Rosalind has been contemplating this assertion. On her first day back at the lab she finds a note from Wilkins proposing “collaboration” and a copy of a letter he sent to Crick sharing her data. She is furious that Wilkins would have the nerve to suggest they collaborate on her project. She is even angrier when she learns from Ray that Linus Pauling has also requested her DNA images. Happily, Randall refused him, but Pauling’s request only adds to her feeling that her authority is being undermined, almost certainly because she is a woman. Rosalind confronts Wilkins, with all of the “brusqueness” that her friend found so objectionable. She accuses him of trying to usurp control over her project and of misrepresenting it to other members of the scientific community. She informs him that science should be a slow, measured process and not a race and then slams the door in his face. From the expression in his eyes during their confrontation, she can see that he was shocked and offended.

On August 13, 1951

London, England

That evening, Rosalind attends a dinner at her brother’s home. She shares her troubles with Colin and his wife, Charlotte, explaining that Wilkins is trying to seize control of her project and that it is especially difficult for her to assert her authority over the research because she is a woman. In part because Wilkins frames his “coup” as a collaboration and in part because male scientists are apt to place more stock in men’s than women’s experiences, it has been difficult for her to find anything concrete about Wilkins’s behavior to report to her superiors. Colin and Charlotte are sympathetic, and Colin urges her not to let Wilkins wrest control over her research.

October 25, 1951

London, England

Randall convenes a meeting to settle the conflict. He confirms he gave Rosalind exclusive authority over the DNA X-ray crystallography work and rebukes Wilkins for misrepresenting both his role in Rosalind’s project and Rosalind’s ability to interpret her own data. He formalizes a division of labor: Rosalind keeps the superior Signer DNA sample, while Wilkins is assigned a different one. Wilkins leaves furious, and Rosalind feels her authority is finally secure.

On November 21, 1951

London, England

Wilkins retaliates by isolating Rosalind and enlisting his office mate, Bill Seeds, to harass her with pranks. Wilkins is also increasingly difficult in his interactions with Ray, and Rosalind feels badly that her sour relationship with Wilkins is affecting her graduate student. Ray shares that Wilkins has been spending time at the Cavendish with Crick and his young American partner, James Watson. Rosalind wonders what to make of this development but is sure that the three will ultimately band together and try to cut her out of her own research. At a colloquium, Rosalind presents her discovery of the A and B forms and states her data indicate a helical structure. Her fellow scientists are excited, but Rosalind worries that her authority over her own work is now even more imperiled.

December 4, 1951

Cambridge, England

The entire King’s team is summoned to the Cavendish. This request is unusual, and both Rosalind and Ray are initially confused. At the lab, Crick and Watson reveal a DNA model they built using information from Rosalind’s talk. Rosalind immediately spots fatal flaws in their discovery. She asks if they began their work with a specific conclusion in mind, and is puzzled when they answer in the affirmative. Surely, experienced scientists would understand that the scientific method requires scientists to begin with a hypothesis rather than a conclusion. She additionally points out that their three-chain helix fails to account for water. She points out the errors in their work without offering her solutions to them. She has no intention of sharing information that might help them solve the mystery of DNA before she does.

December 28 and 29, 1951

Paris, France

The mood at King’s has become fraught and competitive, and Rosalind is happy to spend the Christmas holidays in Paris rather than at home in London. She and Adrienne catch up, and Adrienne warns her against spending time with Jacques during her stay in Paris. Rosalind is also happy to see Vittorio. She shows her latest DNA photographs to Vittorio him, and he confirms the B form’s pattern signals a helix. He advises her to perform Patterson calculations before building a model. When she describes the flawed Cavendish model and Wilkins’s ties to its builders, Vittorio concludes Wilkins is leaking her data to the Cavendish team. He urges her to publish her work and leave King’s as soon as possible.

March 6, 1952

London, England.

Rosalind returns to London after the holidays and devotes all of her time to research. She knows that she must finalize her work as quickly as possible. Randall finds Rosalind in the lab one evening and asks her to prepare a preliminary report for an upcoming Medical Research Council meeting. Rosalind is not sure that she is ready, but from Randall’s tone and careful language, she can tell that his request is actually an order. Randall adds that Wilkins has given him an ultimatum: He will not work on DNA as long as she remains at King’s. Randall denies wanting her to leave but says they must find a resolution. Rosalind is not entirely sure that Randall’s denial is honest, and she knows she must tread carefully going forward.