Rosalind Franklin — "It's important to be thorough in one's experiments. Hasty conclusions can be mis…"
It's important to be thorough in one's experiments. Hasty conclusions can be misleading.
Get This Quote & Author's Image Illustrated On:
Click any product to generate a realistic preview. Up to 3 at a time.
* Initial load can take up to 90 seconds — revising the preview in another color is nearly instant.
Kitchen
Apparel
Other
More from Rosalind Franklin
"The most important thing is to have an open mind and to be willing to follow the evidence wherever it leads."
"I often feel that women in science have to work twice as hard to prove themselves."
"The more evidence I collect, the closer I feel to understanding the true nature of DNA."
"You can't have a hypothesis unless you have some facts. And I haven't got any facts yet."
"The ultimate goal of science is to improve human understanding and welfare."
Verification
Unverifiable
Found in 1 providers: grok
1 source checked
Understanding this quote
What it means
Careful, methodical work in science demands patience and rigor. Rushing to conclusions before gathering sufficient evidence leads to errors that can mislead entire fields. True understanding requires exhaustive testing, repetition, and scrutiny of data before any claim is made. Speed without accuracy is worse than no answer at all.
Relevance to Rosalind Franklin
Franklin's meticulous X-ray crystallography of DNA fibers produced Photo 51, the sharpest diffraction image of its time. Her insistence on gathering more data before declaring DNA's structure frustrated colleagues but reflected her scientific integrity. Watson and Crick's rushed use of her data, without her knowledge, led to their premature Nobel-winning conclusion.
The era
The 1950s scientific race to decode DNA was intensely competitive, with multiple labs under pressure to publish first. Cold War funding, male-dominated institutions, and academic rivalry rewarded speed over thoroughness. Franklin's measured approach clashed with this culture, ultimately costing her credit for one of biology's greatest discoveries.
AI-generated insights based on extensive research and information for context. Factual errors? Email [email protected].