Sexism in science: did Watson and Crick really steal Rosalind Franklin’s data?

The race to uncover the structure of DNA reveals fascinating insights into how Franklin's data was key to the double helix model, but the 'stealing' myth stems from Watson's memoir and attitude rather than facts

The wave of protest that followed Sir Tim Hunt's stupid comments about 'girls' in laboratories highlighted many examples of sexism in science. One claim was that during the race to uncover the structure of DNA, Jim Watson and Francis Crick either stole Rosalind Franklin's data, or 'forgot' to credit her. Neither suggestion is true.

In April 1953, the scientific journal Nature published three back-to-back articles on the structure of DNA, the material our genes are made of. Together, they constituted one of the most important scientific discoveries in history.