Rosalind Franklin (Little People, Big Dreams)

Little People, BIG DREAMS is a best-selling series of books that explore the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream.

Discover the life of Rosalind Franklin, the scientist who was crucial to the discovery of the double helix in DNA.

Little Rosalind was born in London to a Jewish family who valued education and public service, and as she grew up her huge intellectual abilities were drawn into the study of science.

Having studied physics and chemistry at Cambridge University, Rosalind moved to Paris to perfect her life’s work in X-ray crystallography. She then moved back to King’s College London, where she would work on finding the structure of DNA with Maurice Wilkins.

It was Rosalind’s “photo 51” that was used by Wilkins to create the first ever double helix DNA model with Francis Crick, although he did not credit for her work due to a falling out between the two, and her work went unacknowledged until after her death.

However, today she is revered as the forgotten heroine of the study of how DNA works, and the “Sylvia Plath of molecular biology”.

This moving book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the brilliant scientist’s life.