Thread by @Fausto_Sterling

1/12 I can’t let this go. Last week “All Things Considered” aired a segment on the structure of DNA that named only Watson and Crick. When people squawked they issued a “correction” (npr.org/2023/03/01/116… ).
@npratc @ailsachang @NPRKelly @arishapiro @jmsummers @nccomfort

2/12 But I remain neither moved nor impressed. Instead I continue to feel rage and pain over the incident. Why? It all goes back to the 1968 publication of Watson’s “The Double Helix”, @npratc @ailsachang @NPRKelly @arishapiro @jmsummers @nccomfort

3/12 in which Watson painted a self-aggrandizing self-portrait and a hideous picture of the practice of science. He also assassinated Rosalind Franklin, possibly to cover the fact that he used her work without her @npratc @ailsachang @NPRKelly @arishapiro @jmsummers @nccomfort

4/12 knowledge or permission. A graduate student at the time, I saw the character assassination for what it was—a message to me and other young women scientists that no matter how important our work, we were @npratc @ailsachang @NPRKelly @arishapiro @jmsummers @nccomfort

5/12 fair game for ridicule and disrespect. The message for the young men wasn't much better. Either B an aggressive, self-absorbed, uncollaborative prick, or fail as a man and as a scientist. The thing is: none of the men I worked with, either other students or faculty saw it.

6/12 They gathered in Watson’s thrall, where many remain still. For the over 40 years I was a faculty member, 1 of my younger colleagues, made 1st year undergrad. biol. students in his intro. class read that book. @npratc @ailsachang @NPRKelly @arishapiro @jmsummers @nccomfort

7/12 . I would argue with him that at least he had to counter with Anne Sayre’s book, but he thought that that was too much reading for the students. The disrespect meted out on women scientists, @npratc @ailsachang @NPRKelly @arishapiro @jmsummers @nccomfort

8/12 read year after year by female students who might aspire to become scientists, did not outweigh the golden aura of a particularly pernicious form of scientific masculinity, shone on the men at the expense of 1 @npratc @ailsachang @NPRKelly @arishapiro @jmsummers @nccomfort

9/12 young (Jewish) female scientist who died too young to defend herself. Shame on every teacher who continues to use that book in the classroom. And shame on NPR for not understanding the pain and damage @npratc @ailsachang @NPRKelly @arishapiro @jmsummers @nccomfort

10/12 that Watson produced, a pain that several generations later is still with us. I challenge NPR 2 produce a full segment on Franklin. I challenge NPR 2 produce a full segment on the negative portrayal of women scientists. @npratc @ailsachang @NPRKelly @arishapiro @jmsummers

11/12 . I challenge NPR to reflect on science as a collaborative & potentially joyful enterprise, rather than an aggressive sport in which the winner wins by stealing from others. Oh, in case NPR doesn’t know how to find these @npratc @ailsachang @NPRKelly @arishapiro @jmsummers

12/12 Here. Read them, why not? “Rosalind Franklin: the dark lady of DNA” by Brenda Maddox and “Rosalind Franklin and DNA” by Anne Sayre @npratc @ailsachang @NPRKelly @arishapiro @jmsummers @nccomfort #metoo #RosalindFranklin #TheDoubleHelix