Rosalind Franklin

罗莎琳德·富兰克林

We all know the scientific greats； Darwin and his theory of evolution， Newton and his laws of gravity. But there are lots of unsung heroes of the scientific world whose works deserve recognition. Rosalind Franklin is one of them. As a molecular2） biologist， Franklin was responsible for the original research behind the discovery of DNA's structure.

Franklin's crystallography3） snapshots4） featured images of DNA structure that hadn't ever been seen before. So ahead of her time was Franklin that she passed away years before Watson and Crick went on to win a 1962 Nobel prize for their DNA double-helix5） model； a feat6） which， as Crick readily admitted， wouldn't have been possible without her vital research. While many of her independently-researched papers on DNA's structure went unpublished， it was the language within them that greatly informed Watson and Crick's own reports on the subject. Franklin went on to contribute much research on the tobacco mosaic virus7） as well as polio8）. Her pioneering life was cut short in 1957， though， as she died at age 37 of cancer.

我们都知道一些科学巨匠及其成就，像达尔文和他的进化论，以及牛顿和他的万有引力定律。但是科学界还有很多无名英雄，他们的成就也应该得到认可。罗莎琳德·富兰克林就是其中一位。她是一名分子生物学家，DNA结构得以发现，其背后所做的原始研究则要归功于她。

富兰克林拍摄的晶体衍射照片展示了前所未见的DNA结构图像。她远远领先于与自己同时代的人，乃至在她去世多年之后，沃森和克里克才继而因DNA双螺旋结构模型获得1962年的诺贝尔奖。克里克也欣然承认，如果没有富兰克林那至关重要的研究，他们也不可能会有此成就。尽管她的很多关于DNA结构的独立研究论文都没有得以发表，但其字字句句都非常明显地贯穿于沃森和克里克针对这一课题的报告中。富兰克林之后还在烟草花叶病毒和小儿麻痹症的研究上做出了很多贡献。然而在1957年，37岁的她因癌症去世，其开拓创新的一生也戛然而止。

Alfred Russel Wallace

艾尔弗雷德·拉塞尔·华莱士

Darwin's On the Origin of Species is largely considered the most important paper on evolution ever produced， but there is in fact another scientist who， to this day， remains a forgotten father of biogeography. Alfred Russel Wallace was a British explorer and naturalist who independently thought up the theory of evolution by natural selection. After recording his fieldwork expedition9） findings in Malaysia in the mid 1800's， Wallace sent his work to his close friend Charles Darwin for a second opinion10）.

The work inspired Darwin to write his own ideas on evolution， and he published his thoughts along with Wallace's findings in a joint paper before going on to write his own paper on the theory in 1858. As Darwin has become known as the sole scientific super power behind the theory of evolution， no one ever really gave Wallace the same kind of recognition， despite his discovery of thousands of new animal species or the fact that his journal， "The Malay Archipelago"， was considered the best scientific exploration journal published in the 19th century. Why such disparity11） in outcomes？ Unlike his contemporaries， when Wallace's investments failed he had no family wealth or name on which he could fall back12）. In any case， Wallace's butterfly and beetle collections can still be seen in the Natural History Museum today.endprint

达尔文的《物种起源》在很大程度上被认为是有史以来最重要的有关进化的论文，但事实上还有一位堪称生物地理学之父的科学家至今仍然被人们遗忘。他就是英国探险家和博物学家艾尔弗雷德·拉塞尔·华莱士，自然选择进化论即由他独立提出。19世纪中期，华莱士记录下自己在马来西亚进行野外考察探险工作的研究成果后，将其寄给了好友查尔斯·达尔文，希望听听不同的意见。……