The Double Helix

The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA Paperback – June 12, 2001

Author: James D. Watson Ph.D. | Language: English | ISBN: 074321630X | Format: PDF, EPUB

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The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA – June 12, 2001
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"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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

First published in 1968, this classic story of the discovery of DNA has never been released as an audiobook.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (June 12, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 074321630X
• ISBN-13: 978-0743216302
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,962 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > Medical Books > Basic Sciences > Cell Biology
  • #5 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Biology > Molecular Biology
  • #8 in Books > Science & Math > Reference

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In this book (first published in 1968), "Honest Jim" (as a scientist friend called him) or Dr. James Dewey Watson has explained his "version of how the structure of DNA was discovered" and "this account represents the way [he] saw things then, in [the fall of] 1951 [to the spring of] 1953." (The discovery was announced in April 1953.) That is, he has "attempted to re-create [his] first impressions of the relevant events and personalities" that he encountered along the way to making the discovery. Thus, understand this is not a book of historical facts.

Also, because of the personal nature of this book Watson states that "many of the comments [that he makes] may seem one-sided and unfair, but this is often the case in the incomplete and hurried way in which human beings decide to like or dislike a new idea or [a new] acquaintance."

This book revolves around five main people:

(1) Dr. Francis Crick (1916 to 2004) of the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, England
(2) Dr. James Watson (born 1928) also of the Cavendish Laboratory
(3) Dr. Rosalind Franklin (1920 to 1958) of King's College, a division of the University of London
(4) Dr. Maurice Wilkins (1916 to 2004) also of King's College
(5) Dr. Linus Pauling (1901 to 1994) of the California Institute of Technology.

However, along the way the reader meets many other people, both scientists and non-scientists.

As Watson explains, the above five people are in a "race" to discover DNA's structure. However, I got the impression that neither Franklin nor Wilkins knew they were in a race. By the end of the race, Watson was "one of the winners" who shared the Nobel Prize in 1962 with Crick and Wilkins.

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