Before reading Her Hidden Genius, had you heard of Rosalind Franklin? What, if anything, did you know about the history of DNA, and how did the book affect your understanding of that history?

Before reading Her Hidden Genius, had you heard of Rosalind Franklin? What, if anything, did you know about the history of DNA, and how did the book affect your understanding of that history?

I hadn’t heard of her and found her to be an inspiring personality. Reading stories like hers is why I so enjoy historical fiction.

I had read other books about scientific work that was done with radiation and I knew would not end well for her because of it.

I had not heard of Rosalind and I knew nothing about who figured out DNA. The subject of the book was very interesting for that reason.

I had never heard of Rosalind Franklin, or read anything regarding the discovery of DNA before reading HHG. I always found DNA to be a fascinating topic. After reading Marie’s book, it gave me a deeper understanding of how this brilliant discovery was made. Marie Benedict’s books always draw me in because they are often of the unknown but key women of the past.

I had never heard of Rosalind Franklin before reading Her Hidden Genuis. I had known that Watson and Crick had won the Noble Prize for their work on DNA. The story of Franklin was very interesting and I was not surprised that she did not get the credit she deserved during her lifetime.

I had never heard of Rosalind Franklin, nor had I really ever given much thought about the history or discovery of DNA. I have to admit that Science is not my forte - I find it hard to wrap my head around how or why many things work. It is hard for me to fathom really how scientists work these things out - or even how they think to start looking for these answers!

I had never heard of Rosalind Frankly, nor had I thought about the discovery or history of DNA. Reading this book opened my eyes and made me branch out and learn more.

Although I knew about DNA and remember building DNA models in science in school; I had never heard of Rosalind Franklin. I was aware of Watson and Crick.
It’s thanks to authors like Marie Benedict that women like Rosalind are finally getting the recognition they deserved.

I hadn't heard of Franklin or any of the other characters in the book. Not sure if DNA and other scientific achievements weren't covered in schools "back in the day," or if I just wasn't paying attention! :)

I don’t think many people have heard of her despite the enormous contributions she made. Interesting to note, Jennifer Doudna who recently won the Nobel Prize and was so instrumental in getting the coronavirus vaccine developed credits her in her recent book, Codebreakers. In the small, insulated world of biochemists, she is a giant!

I had never heard of Franklin but had read a bit about Watson and Crick. I agree with ruthiea. It is amazing how they were able to know where to look and how to look to find the answers to their questions about DNA. I am in awe of these scientists!

Yes, I heard of Franklin and knew she was the overlooked scientist behind the discovery of DNA, yet Watson and Crick got all the credit. Caveat: I am a recently retired research scientist and have some experience in the field. However, I didn't know a lot about her and that's why this book appealed to me.

I only recently heard that Rosalind Franklin was the discoverer of DNA so I was thrilled to have the book so I could delve into her story. I have seen some documentaries about DNA and how it was discovered so this was very interesting as a refresher.

I had heard about Rosalind Franklin when I was studying Molecular Biology 20 years ago, I even got to read the "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid" publication, so I was familiar with how she was robbed from the recognition of her contributions to the elucidation of the DNA structure, and that by the time the Nobel prize was handed out, she was not even recognized for her contributions.

I had heard of her before because I worked in a biology library for many years. I didn’t know her exact story but knew there was some controversy involving her and Watson and Crick. I really liked learning more about her.

Yes, although the genetics " text " book I used in 1962 for my ONE SEMESTER genetics course as a pre-med student did not mention her, or if it did, I don't remember it. I became aware of her within a couple of years later and was very aware of the controversy when the Nobel Prize was given to Watson and Crick. When I was teaching biology by 1971, she was always part of my coverage of DNA structure and genetics.

I had never heard of Rosalind before reading this book. Likewise I was unaware about the detail of the discovery of the DNA structure

While studying Biology at UC San Diego, I read The Double Helix by Watson and became incensed with his characterization of Rosalind Franklin. This book, and the Sayers bio, show how attractive and fun Rosalind was.

I knew nothing about Rosalind Franklin before reading this book. I am amazed how much she was involved with DNA research. Knew of Watson and Crick from college science classes, but Franklin was never mentioned.

I had not heard of her nor the back story of DNA discovery.

I had read The Double Helix by James Watson and the biographies of Rosalind Franklin written by Anne Sayre and Brenda Maddox, so I was quite familiar with Franklin’s life.

I had not heard about Rosalind Franklin before this book and, like many others who have posted, I thought that Watson and Crick had discovered DNA. I agree with others that it’s not surprising that Dr. Franklin didn’t get the credit she deserved at the time. I wonder if Jennifer Doudna, who won the Nobel Prize in 2020 for her work in the discovery of a tool that can edit DNA, would have been able to make that discovery had Rosalind Franklin not paved the way.

I knew nothing of Rosalind Franklin or her discovery of DNA through the adversity she had to endure.

I had never heard of her, but DNA is discussed in so many tv shows and the kind of books I prefer (crime and court procedurals) that it seems to be fairly well known. Too much scientific stuff in this book for me.