Why were Watson and Crick able to make their discoveries?
Description
GCSE History (Medicine in Modern Britain) Mind Map on Why were Watson and Crick able to make their discoveries?, created by Shannon Dhillon on 29/12/2017.
Why were Watson and Crick able to
make their discoveries?
Government
The research carried out by
Watson and Crick was
enormously expensive due
to the complex equipment
and large number of highly
skilled individuals involved.
Most of their
funding came
from the
British
government.
Individual Genius
James Watson
was an extremely
intelligent man.
He had been
offered a
scholarship to
study at the
University of
Chicago at the age
of only fifteen.
Both Watson and
Crick were
extremely
creative in their
thinking
compared to
other scientists of
the time.
For example, no one else that saw
Franklin's photograph was initially
able to work out the double helix
shape of DNA. It was only Watson and
Crick who were able to see this, after
which it became obvious to others.
The definitive proof of
the double helix
structure of DNA came
from an X-ray
photograph taken by
Rosalind Franklin,
known as Photo 51.
Neither
Watson nor
Crick had the
expertise to
capture this
image
themselves
and until they
found
Franklin's
picture their
research had
stalled.
Science and
Technology
Watson and Crick drew
heavily on almost a century
of previous scientific
research into DNA to make
their discoveries.
This included work by people like
Friedrich Miescher, Albrecht Kossel,
Phoebus Levene, William Astbury,
Nikolai Koltsov, Frederick Griffith and
Oswald Avery.
Watson and Crick relied
on extremely modern
technology, such as
X-ray photography and
high powered
microscopes, to gather
the data needed to
make their discovery.
Watson and Crick relied on data
collected a number of other
scientists who were experts in X ray
photography, including Maurice
Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin and
Raymond Gosling.
Teamwork
Watson and Crick were
known to have spent
many hours developing
their ideas about the
structure of DNA
through lengthy
discussion with each
other.
Neither man had made
any significant discovery
before they began
working together.
When Watson and
Crick published their
findings in the journal
Nature in 1953, their
ideas were supported
by no less ' than five
other articles, which all
verified their findings.
This helped to lend
credibility to their
findings.
Watson and Crick
drew heavily on
almost a century
of previous
scientific
research into
DNA to make
their discoveries.
This included work by
people like Friedrich
Miescher, Albrecht
Kossel, Phoebus Levene,
William Astbury, Nikolai
Koltsov, Frederick
Griffith and Oswald
Avery.
Watson and Crick relied on data collected a
number of other scientists who were
experts in X ray photography, including
Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin and
Raymond Gosling.
The definitive proof of the
double helix structure of
DNA came from an X-ray
photograph taken by
Rosalind Franklin, known as
Photo 51.
Neither Watson nor Crick had
the expertise to capture this
image themselves and until
they found Franklin's picture
their research had stalled.