Sven Furberg

Sven Verner Furberg (16 April 1920 – 15 March 1983) was a Norwegian chemist, biologist, and crystallographer who first proposed the helical structure of DNA. Furberg suggested this structure in 1949, which he referred to as a "zig-zag" chain.[2][3] In 1952, his structure of DNA was published in the journal Acta Chemica Scandinavica.[4] In this paper, he deduced that DNA forms a double helix from the crystal structure and density value of nucleosides and other related molecules.[4] A year later, this paper was cited by James Watson and Francis Crick in Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid.[5]

1. http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=4425
2. Furberg, Sven Verner. An X-ray study of some nucleosides and nucleotides. Diss. University of London, 1949.
3. Olby, R. C. (1994) The path to the double helix : the discovery of DNA. Enlarged edition. New York : London, Dover Publications ; Constable and Company.
4. Furberg, Sven. "On the structure of nucleic acids." Acta chem. scand 6 (1952): 634-640.
5. Watson, J. D. & Crick, F. H. C. (1953) Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid. Nature. 171 (4356), 737.

Sven Verner Furberg
Born	Sven Verner Furberg 16 April 1920 Sande, Vestfold, Norway
Died	15 March 1983(1983-03-15) (aged 62) Oslo, Norway
Nationality	Norwegian
Alma mater	Birkbeck College London (PhD) [1]
Known for	DNA structure[1] [2] The Structure of cytidine
Awards	Fridtjof Nansen Award of Excellence (1966)
Scientific career
Fields	Crystallography Molecular biology Chemistry
Institutions	University of Oslo University of Montevideo University of Bergen
Thesis	An X-ray Study of Some Nucleosides and Nucleotides. (1949)