The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNAThe classic personal account of Watson and Crick’s groundbreaking discovery of the structure of DNA, now with an introduction by Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind. 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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Page 117
The State Department did not want troublemakers like Pauling wandering about
the globe saying nasty things about the politics of its onetime investment bankers
who held back the hordes of godless Reds . Failure to contain Pauling might ...
The State Department did not want troublemakers like Pauling wandering about
the globe saying nasty things about the politics of its onetime investment bankers
who held back the hordes of godless Reds . Failure to contain Pauling might ...
Page 165
out the superficial resemblance between Pauling's three - chain helix and the
model that Francis and I had shown her fifteen months earlier . The fact that
Pauling's deductions about symmetry were no more inspired than our awkward
efforts of ...
out the superficial resemblance between Pauling's three - chain helix and the
model that Francis and I had shown her fifteen months earlier . The fact that
Pauling's deductions about symmetry were no more inspired than our awkward
efforts of ...
Page 217
PAULING first heard about the double helix from Delbrück . At the bottom of the
letter that broke the news of the complementary chains , I had asked that he not
tell Linus . I was still slightly afraid something would go wrong and did not want ...
PAULING first heard about the double helix from Delbrück . At the bottom of the
letter that broke the news of the complementary chains , I had asked that he not
tell Linus . I was still slightly afraid something would go wrong and did not want ...
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - pramodghuge - LibraryThingA very personal account by the author James Watson on how he and his colleague Francis Crick with the help of others beat Linus Pauling to win the coveted Nobel prize for identifying the structure of ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - ajlewis2 - LibraryThingI read about a third of it. I found the story wandered and wasn't clear. His treatment of Rosalind Franklin sounded like something written in the 1950s. It was at that point that I decided the book ... Read full review
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Common terms and phrases
acid adenine answer argument arranged arrival asked atoms backbone base pairs bases became began biological bonds Bragg building Cambridge Cavendish chemical chemistry coiled coils College completely conversation Crick crystallographic cytosine Delbrück double helix English equal evidence existed experiments face fact final Francis gave genes genetic give given groups guanine hand held helical hope hydrogen idea immediately important interest John join King's knew later letter Linus London look lunch Maurice meeting mind molecules months Moreover morning moved Nature needed never obvious Pauling Pauling's Peter position possibility problem protein quickly realized reason remained Rosy saying scientific sense solve soon structure success sugar sure talk tell theory thinking thought tion told walked wanted week X-ray
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Bibliographic information
| Title | The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA |
| Author | James D. Watson |
| Edition | illustrated, reprint |
| Publisher | Touchstone, 2001 |
| ISBN | 074321630X, 9780743216302 |
| Length | 256 pages |
| Subjects | › › Science / General Science / History Science / Life Sciences / Genetics & Genomics Science / Reference |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |