Her Hidden Genius

On April 17, 1952

London, England

Rosalind interviews with Professor John Desmond Bernal at Birkbeck College, part of the University of London. She likes and admires Bernal and is heartened by the knowledge that he is friends with her colleagues from the labo in Paris. She happily accepts his offer, sure that his lab will be a much better environment than the one at King’s. Later, she runs into her cousin, Ursula, at a tea shop. The two chat over tea and cakes, and Ursula accuses her of self-isolating because of her issues at work. She assures Ursula that she has just been preoccupied and that she doesn’t want to push her family away. The two run into Francis Crick, who disrespectfully addresses Rosalind by the nickname “Rosy” instead of Dr. Franklin. He probes her about her DNA work, revealing he knows details she has not shared publicly. Rosalind knows that she likely has nine months left before she can leave King’s, but wishes that she could transfer to Bernal’s lab now.

On May 2, 1952

London, England

Rosalind and Ray watch a DNA fiber spontaneously shift from A to B form under the microscope. Later, reviewing new X-ray images, she finds an exceptionally clear B-form photograph with a perfect X pattern, definitive proof of a helix. They label it “Photo 51,” recognizing its potential to solve the mystery of DNA’s structure.

June 25, 1952

London, England

At the dedication of new King’s College laboratories, Rosalind reads a pamphlet that discloses her confidential findings and includes Wilkins’s name on the list of scientists responsible for the work. Angered, she informs Randall she is leaving for Birkbeck. He accepts without argument, and even appears relieved to have her resignation. They set January as her tentative departure date, and Randall assures her that he will finalize all of the necessary details. Rosalind realizes that Wilkins has successfully turned even Randall against her and is grateful to have another job on the horizon.

July 18, 1952

London, England

Buoyed by the prospect of leaving, Rosalind suggests a prank to Ray. Since their calculations refute a helical structure for A-form DNA, they create a mock mourning card announcing the death of the hypothesis. Ray warns it may enrage Wilkins but insists he deserves it. Moved by Ray’s loyalty, Rosalind tells him that she will include his name on all of her published research on the helix: He may only be a graduate student, but he has been an integral part of her research process, and he deserves the recognition.

On October 4, 1952

London, England

Ray tells Rosalind that Peter Pauling, son of the famed chemist, has joined the Cavendish. He adds that Wilkins spends weekends in Cambridge with Crick and Watson, hoping to persuade their director to lift his ban on DNA research. Rosalind knows that she must publish her work as soon as possible and tells Ray as much. She also finally admits to him that she is leaving the lab. Crestfallen, Ray tells Rosalind how much respect he has for her and how much he will miss her. Rosalind promises him that she will ask Randall if she might stay on as his advisor, even though she will no longer be at King’s.

On December 12, 1952

London, England

Rosalind attends her family’s Hanukkah dinner. She does not share her family’s faith in God and realizes that she is the only one at the table who values reason over faith. She notes the sexism that characterizes her family and wishes that her mother felt freer to express her own ideas and that the women did not serve the men before themselves. She loves her family but understands that she would rather pursue her career goals than have a family of her own. She confides in her Aunt Mamie about the difficulties at King’s and her planned move to Birkbeck. Although it is evident that her aunt does not truly understand her situation, sharing the story out loud helps her to think through everything she has to accomplish before her departure.

On December 15, 1952

London, England

Rosalind prepares for a visit from the Medical Research Council, for which she has submitted a report. Max Perutz, a committee member from the Cavendish lab, visits her lab unannounced and asks for unpublished details from her report, including specific measurements. He uses the diminutive “miss” instead of “doctor” as many male scientists do when speaking to her, and she does her best to remain calm while emphasizing the title “doctor” when she responds to him. When she gently refuses to share her data, he asks to see her X-ray photographs. Again, she refuses, stating she will share data only when it would be scientifically appropriate to do so.

On January 28, 1953

London, England

Randall announces that Linus Pauling is about to publish a flawed triple-helix DNA model. Rosalind and Ray are sure that he has been receiving information from his son, who now works at Cavendish. They are relieved to hear that his model features the triple helix, which they know to be an error. Randall then reports that the Cavendish director is angered at the prospect of losing the DNA “race” to Linus Pauling, and that Cavendish is now openly in competition with King’s to publish an authoritative study on DNA’s structure.

January 30, 1953

London, England

James Watson enters Rosalind’s darkened lab uninvited. She confronts him, accusing him of looking for her notes. As do so many of her male colleagues, he fails to call her “Doctor Franklin” and blithely addresses her as “Rosy.” She corrects him, and he bristles. He denies having clandestinely entered her lab to steal data and claims to have come to offer her a copy of Linus Pauling’s upcoming study. Although Rosalind would like to read it, she stands her ground. He responds by insulting her scientific ability and towering over her in a way that she knows is meant to be physically threatening. He leaves only when he hears a male voice in the hallway.

On January 31, 1953

London, England

Rosalind continues to put in extra hours in order to finalize her report before leaving the lab for good. The day after her encounter with Watson, Ray stops by. He tells Rosalind that the previous night, he went to a pub with Wilkins and a few other researchers. Watson also showed up. After a few pints, he boasted about his plans to finalize a complete DNA model and publish results, using data that from Rosalind’s confidential Medical Research Council report. Ray and Rosalind agree that he must have somehow gotten the information from Perutz, although they are shocked at Perutz’s lack of professional ethics. Even though he had access to the report, he should not have shared it with his workers at Cavendish. Ray also shares that, because Randall denied Rosalind’s request to remain Ray’s doctoral advisor, Wilkins was the only option. The two met, and Ray had to show Wilkins everything he’d been working on. Wilkins apparently spent an inordinate amount of time looking at Photo 51 in his notebook, so long that Ray became uncomfortable. Wilkins and Watson left the pub together the previous night after a quiet but intense side conversation, and Ray is sure, although he has no proof, that Wilkins shared what he learned from Ray’s notes with Watson. Rosalind and Ray realize Rosalind’s key materials have been compromised.

February 23, 1953

London, England.

After three weeks of intense work, Rosalind and Ray submit their papers. Rosalind builds models and confirms that both A and B forms are two-chain helices with phosphates on the outside. Exhausted, she meets her mentor, Adrienne Weill. Rosalind tries to avoid the subject of her work, but Adrienne can sense her distress and presses her for an update. Rosalind tells her the entire story and becomes angry recounting details about the way that Wilkins, Watson, and her other colleagues in the scientific community have been doing their best to undermine her. She explains that, although she would rather continue to work with DNA, she has accepted a position researching viruses at a different lab.

March 13, 1953

London, England

At a farewell lunch, Wilkins emerges from Randall’s office and announces that Watson and Crick have discovered the final unknown pieces of DNA’s structure. He describes their model but omits Rosalind’s contribution. Rosalind openly accuses him of giving Watson access to her work, and his face reddens. Randall, furious with Wilkins, berates him for clandestinely working with a competing lab. He then asks Rosalind to contribute a paper in the same issue of Nature that Crick and Watson plan to publish their findings in. His motivation is two-fold: He wants Rosalind to receive proper credit for her work, but he also wants Kings, his lab, to be credited with the discovery rather than Cavendish.

March 14, 1953

London, England

Rosalind has dinner with her cousin, Ursula. She tries to avoid discussing the subterfuge she’s been navigating at work, but Ursula pointedly asks her about the lab. Rosalind explains that Crick, Watson, and Wilkins colluded to steal her data and that Crick and Watson are now publishing their findings, stealing the credit that she is due for her work. Ursula is outraged, and urges Rosalind to fight back. Rosalind explains that she has no proof and that, as a woman in science, a public fight would ruin her. She decides to focus on her new work at Birkbeck rather than an unwinnable battle.