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Guru
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Happy Birthday to Rosalind Franklin

07/26/2017 8:18 AM

Would the Nobel Committee have included Rosalind Franklin when they bestowed the prize on Crick, Watson and Wilkins?

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Guru
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#1

Re: Happy Birthday to Rosalind Franklin

07/26/2017 9:14 AM

I thought the rules only allowed 3 people to be awarded the Nobel prize for a specific discovery.

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Guru
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#2
In reply to #1

Re: Happy Birthday to Rosalind Franklin

07/26/2017 9:24 AM

I didn't know that, and you're correct. Then to me the question is whether she would have won the prize instead of Maurice Wilkins (who gave away Franklin's x-ray diffraction image to Crick and Watson).

§ 4.
A prize amount may be equally divided between two works, each of which is considered to merit a prize. If a work that is being rewarded has been produced by two or three persons, the prize shall be awarded to them jointly. In no case may a prize amount be divided between more than three persons.

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Guru
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#3

Re: Happy Birthday to Rosalind Franklin

07/26/2017 11:35 AM

The real question is why did they not? Chauvinistic ideals? I find that appalling since she was the one that did the hard work.

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#4
In reply to #3

Re: Happy Birthday to Rosalind Franklin

07/26/2017 1:32 PM

Sadly, Franklin died of ovarian cancer in 1958, at age 37. The Nobel Committee disallows nominations of deceased persons.

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Guru
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#5
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Re: Happy Birthday to Rosalind Franklin

07/26/2017 1:39 PM

Then, all the more is the tragedy and travesty of the thing.

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#6
In reply to #4

Re: Happy Birthday to Rosalind Franklin

07/26/2017 2:34 PM

I do understand the desire to not grant a cash award to an estate but the Nobel Committee should be able to somehow honor those who worked hardest but who died before the achievement was recognized.

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#7
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Re: Happy Birthday to Rosalind Franklin

07/26/2017 3:06 PM

There is really no guarantee of recognition in science, or life in general, and many times justice escapes the grasp of society.

In the Great Beyond, I suspect all wrongs will be righted.

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#8
In reply to #7

Re: Happy Birthday to Rosalind Franklin

07/26/2017 3:46 PM

To paraphrase and expound on Benjamin Franklin:

There is nothing certain in this world but death and taxes. But to resign ourselves to never improving our world is a fate worse than both death and taxes.

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#9

Re: Happy Birthday to Rosalind Franklin

07/27/2017 9:17 AM

It's good that she is now recognized for her contributions (and the injustice done to her). Awards are great, but I think the true reward for a scientist is helping to deepen the collective understanding of the world we live in. I think it's pretty much indisputable that Rosalind Franklin made a profound contribution to our understanding of DNA.

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#10
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Re: Happy Birthday to Rosalind Franklin

07/27/2017 9:26 AM

It does seem clear that she passed away knowing just how much her contribution was, also that she was loved and appreciated, not the least of which by Watson and Crick.

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