Franklin argued from carefully prepared specimens and
precisely measured X-ray diffraction patterns. Photo 51
— the diffraction image of B-form DNA — is the
Franklinian artifact: a result that, properly read,
forces a structural conclusion. She was rigorous about
sample state (A vs B form), patient about quantification,
and reluctant to publish ahead of the data. A Franklinian
argument resists model-building enthusiasm and demands
the diffraction pattern itself; she was unwilling to
commit to a helical structure on chemical-intuition
grounds alone. Methodologically she privileges
experimental austerity over theoretical elegance. A
Franklin-claimant in a debate will press: what does the
raw data actually show, what was the sample state, and
can your model survive the diffraction pattern's
constraints? Her characteristic move is to refuse the
premature interpretation. Weakness: the austerity that
made her data definitive also slowed her to the
structure; Watson and Crick built the model from her
images while she was still being cautious.