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Ray Gosling
An American scientist who becomes fascinated by Rosalind Franklin’s research—and, over the course of their ongoing written correspondence, besotted with Rosalind herself—then later travels to King’s College to assist and study with her. Caspar is Jewish, like Rosalind, and the two of them bond over being the only two Jewish people in the entire college. Caspar is attracted to Rosalind because of her intelligence—rather than being intimidated by her and attempting to cut her down to size, like her male colleagues at King’s and Cambridge do, Caspar attempts to let Rosalind know just how special she is and how vital not just her research but her mere presence in the scientific profession truly is. Throughout the play, Caspar is often quick to jump to Rosalind’s defense when other scientists are making fun of or speaking badly about her and is perhaps the only character whose genuine kindness promises to pull Rosalind out of her shell. Their relationship is nipped in the bud when Rosalind is diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and Caspar laments that their friendship never developed into anything more. Warm, genial, and profoundly kind, Caspar seems to understand and respect Rosalind on a level none of her colleagues even attempt.
Don Caspar Quotes in Photograph 51
The Photograph 51 quotes below are all either spoken by Don Caspar or refer to Don Caspar. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Photograph 51 Quotes
CASPAR. Watson and Crick got hold of the paper Rosalind had written. It was confidential.
CRICK. It wasn’t confidential. Another scientist at Cambridge gave it to us. […]
WILKINS. Well it wasn’t published, that’s for sure. And it included [….] information that became critical to your work.
WATSON. I’m sure we would have gotten there sooner or later, even without it.
WILKINS. So would we have done, with the benefit of your work. You had ours but we didn’t have yours!
WATSON. There was no “we” where you were concerned. […]
GOSLING. Anyway, it doesn’t matter how they got the paper, only that they got it.
CASPAR. And that Rosalind didn’t know she should be in a hurry.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
GOSLING. There’s no science that can explain it. Loneliness. […]
CASPAR. Rosalind? (She clutches her stomach.)
WATSON. It works, Francis. It works. (A very long beat.)
CRICK. It’s ...
WATSON. I can’t believe it.
CRICK. It’s life unfolding, right in front of us. (Rosalind doubles over in her chair, and gasps.)
CASPAR. Rosalind?
WILKINS. It’s the loneliest pursuit in the world. Science. Because there either are answers or there aren’t.
ROSALIND. If I’d only ...
GOSLING. Been more careful around the beam.
WATSON. Collaborated.
CRICK. Been more open, less wary. Less self-protective.
CASPAR. Or more wary, more self-protective.
WATSON. Been a better scientist.
CASPAR. Been willing to take more risks, make models, go forward without the certainty of proof.
CRICK. Been friendlier.
GOSLING. Or born at another time.
CRICK. Or born a man.
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"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Don Caspar Character Timeline in Photograph 51
The timeline below shows where the character Don Caspar appears in Photograph 51. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Photograph 51
...adding to the chaos, reconstructing the background of Rosalind’s decision to venture to London. Don Caspar and Ray Gosling join the fray and continue telling the story of Rosalind’s arrival in...
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Watson, Crick, and Caspar step in to comment on what’s just happened. Watson says the “race [was] lost […]...
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...a correspondence Rosalind took up with a doctoral student in biophysics at Yale named Don Caspar after he wrote to her on the recommendation of his advisor, asking her for some...
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...the phone and describing how the beautiful, clean mountain air clears her head. She echoes Caspar’s words, stating that looking at “truly beautiful things” allows one to see and understand something...
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...the last minute and cheerily tells her not to stay too late at the lab. Caspar steps forward to comment, shocked by how casually Rosalind interacted with the X-ray beams—and by...
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Caspar writes Rosalind another gushing letter professing his admiration for her work and filling her in...
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...Gosling peer at an X-ray image they’ve developed—it seems to show DNA in two forms. Caspar steps in to explain what they’ve found—the A form and B form of DNA, two...
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...DNA. As they stare at it, Rosalind remarks that she’s never seen anything like it. Caspar and Watson identify the thing she’s looking at as the infamous Photograph 51. Gosling states...
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Caspar writes Rosalind to tell her that he has graduated from his PhD program—he is officially...
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...directly—but Gosling steps up and cuts him off, reporting that later that same week, Don Caspar arrived from America to come work at King’s.
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As Caspar arrives at the lab, Wilkins shows him around and introduces him, at last, to Rosalind—whom...
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Back at the lab, Rosalind and Caspar find themselves working together more and more. There is clearly sexual tension between the two...
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...February, Watson and Crick invite their colleagues from all over England to Cambridge. Rosalind, Wilkins, Caspar, and Gosling all pay them a visit. Rosalind is in a good mood—she flirts with...
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...Watson and Crick are in a pub finalizing their theory. Meanwhile, in London, Rosalind and Caspar are at dinner together. Caspar thanks Rosalind for agreeing to eat with him and says...
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In Cambridge, Crick and Watson finalize their model at the pub. In London, Caspar takes Rosalind’s hand—seconds later, she utters a painful gasp and doubles over. Wilkins steps forward....
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