Katie Mefferd

Rosalind Franklin was a direct, opinionated, quick witted, outspoken, correct and decisive women (A Science of Odyssey n.d.).  Rosalind was one of four children, the only daughter, very determined to follow her dream.  At the age of 15 she knew she wanted to be a scientist but her father disapproved the idea because university education wasn’t for women.  Her father, Ellis Parker who was a socialist, had high hopes of her becoming a social worker (Pioneer Moleculer Biologist n.d.). Rosalind attended St. Paul’s Girls’ School in London.  This school was one of the few schools for girls that included scientific study (Lewis 1999).Beginning a family fued, Rosalind went to Cambridge University in 1938.  Her Aunt paid for her college, her mother supported her decision with her father finally giving in.  During her sophomore year at Cambridge University, war broke out in Europe.  As soon as she graduated in 1941 she began to work on her doctorate studies.  Because she was going to school at the same time of the war she focused on wartime problem: the nature of coal and charcoal and how to use them most efficiently (A Science of Odyssey n.d.).  The war ended the same time she graduated with her PhD at age 26. By this time she had already published five doctorate papers on the subject of coal and charcoal and how to use them efficiently.