Secret of Photo 51 

 
On April 25, 1953, the science journal Nature announced that James Watson and Francis Crick had discovered the double helix structure of DNA, the molecule that is fundamental to life. But absent from most accounts of their Nobel Prize-winning work is the contribution made by a scientist—molecular biologist and crystallographer Rosalind Franklin—who would never know that Watson and Crick had seen a key piece of her data without her permission and that it would lead them to the double helix.

Why did Franklin never receive credit for her contribution? How did these men gain access to Franklin’s data? Who was this pioneering woman working in the male-dominated world of scientific research?

Fifty years later, "Secret of Photo 51" unravels the mystery behind the discovery of the double helix and investigates the seminal role that Rosalind Franklin and her remarkable X-ray photograph played in one of the greatest discoveries in the history of science.

Premiere broadcast April 22, 2003 on NOVA/PBS

NOVA website
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/photo51/

Full production and origination credits


Buy the Video/DVD
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/photo51/shop.html


Press
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Nova gives DNA pioneer her due at last


'Nova' honors scientist

 

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