The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA
by James D. Watson
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Book Summary Information
Author: James D. WatsonEdition: Paperback
Published: 2001-06-12
ISBN: 074321630X
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Touchstone
Book Reviews of The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA
Book Review: Science Memoir
Summary: 4 Stars
I remember upon first reading The Double Helix I was delighted with the fact that Watson was a slacker and still managed to make one of the most important discoveries in biology. There was hope for me too! It is a pleasure to read a book about scientific discovery where the researchers are not mercilessly driven type-A personalities confined to their labs. A well-written account of the personalities and community behind a major scientific discovery, of the molding of disparate facts into a new theory that changed the field.
Summary of The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA
"Science seldom proceeds in the straightforward logical manner imagined by outsiders," writes James Watson in The Double Helix, his account of his codiscovery (along with Francis Crick) of the structure of DNA. Watson and Crick won Nobel Prizes for their work, and their names are memorized by biology students around the world. But as in all of history, the real story behind the deceptively simple outcome was messy, intense, and sometimes truly hilarious. To preserve the "real" story for the world, James Watson attempted to record his first impressions as soon after the events of 1951-1953 as possible, with all their unpleasant realities and "spirit of adventure" intact.Watson holds nothing back when revealing the petty sniping and backbiting among his colleagues, while acknowledging that he himself was a willing participant in the melodrama. In particular, Watson reveals his mixed feelings about his famous colleague in discovery, Francis Crick, who many thought of as an arrogant man who talked too much, and whose brilliance was appreciated by few. This is the joy of The Double Helix--instead of a chronicle of stainless-steel heroes toiling away in their sparkling labs, Watson's chronicle gives readers an idea of what living science is like, warts and all. The Double Helix is a startling window into the scientific method, full of insight and wit, and packed with the kind of science anecdotes that are told and retold in the halls of universities and laboratories everywhere. It's the stuff of legends. --Therese Littleton
By identifying the structure of DNA, the molecule of life, Francis Crick and James Watson revolutionized biochemistry and won themselves a Nobel Prize. At the time, Watson was only twenty-four, a young scientist hungry to make his mark. His uncompromisingly honest account of the heady days of their thrilling sprint against other world-class researchers to solve one of science's greatest mysteries gives a dazzlingly clear picture of a world of brilliant scientists with great gifts, very human ambitions, and bitter rivalries. With humility unspoiled by false modesty, Watson relates his and Crick's desperate efforts to beat Linus Pauling to the Holy Grail of life sciences, the identification of the basic building block of life. Never has a scientist been so truthful in capturing in words the flavor of his work.
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