Papers of M H F Wilkins: notebook relating to research on the structure of the DNA double helix

Manuscript notebook relating to research on the structure of the DNA double helix, carried out by Maurice Wilkins and his colleagues in the Medical Research Council (MRC) Biophysics Unit, King’s College London, Sep 1953-Dec 1960, with experiment results, calculations and diagrams including: density readings of the chemical bases in DNA; position of water molecules in crystalline DNA; information regarding the Fourier transform of observed x-ray diffraction data; calculations for the cylindrical Patterson function; measured intensities of x-ray diffraction photographs; constructed model data and testing for both A and B form DNA; brief notes on model RNA and on model left-handed spiralling DNA. Also, at the end of the notebook, molecular structure diagrams of chemical bases and amino acids, with additional notes and calculations relating to the structure of DNA, including notes under the headings ‘hydrogen bonding in water’, and ‘bond angles problem’, by Alexander Stokes. Volume subsequently labelled (by Wilkins) 'DNA Seeds + Wilkins 1954-'.

1953-1960

1 volume

King's College London

Available at King’s College London, Archives and Special Collections, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.

A digitised copy is held by the Wellcome Library as part of Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics.

The original material is held at King’s College London, Archives and Special Collections. This catalogue is held by the Wellcome Library as part of Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics.