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. |
From inside the book
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Page 31
Though I knew nothing about the X-ray diffraction techniques that dominated
structural analysis, I was optimistic that the spoken arguments would be more
comprehensible than the journal articles, which passed over my head. I was
specially ...
Though I knew nothing about the X-ray diffraction techniques that dominated
structural analysis, I was optimistic that the spoken arguments would be more
comprehensible than the journal articles, which passed over my head. I was
specially ...
Page 50
Particularly important were the exact arguments needed to understand how Linus
Pauling had discovered the a-helix. I soon was ... Equations occasionally crept
into his argument, but in most cases words would have sufficed. The key to ...
Particularly important were the exact arguments needed to understand how Linus
Pauling had discovered the a-helix. I soon was ... Equations occasionally crept
into his argument, but in most cases words would have sufficed. The key to ...
Page 94
Nothing in Francis' argument justified all this fuss. She became positively
aggressive when we got on the topic of Mg” ions that held together the phosphate
groups of our three-chain model. This feature had no appeal at all to Rosy, who
curtly ...
Nothing in Francis' argument justified all this fuss. She became positively
aggressive when we got on the topic of Mg” ions that held together the phosphate
groups of our three-chain model. This feature had no appeal at all to Rosy, who
curtly ...
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THE DOUBLE HELIX: A Personal Account Of The Discovery Of The Structure Of Dna
User Review - KirkusEven without understanding any of the scientific data processed here, the general reader will find it hard to remain immune to this account of how J.D. Watson, along with another bright, volatile ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - quantum_flapdoodle - LibraryThingJames Watson's love letter to himself, as he explains to us exactly how he single-handedly solved the structure of DNA, with the insignificant help of a cast of baboons, clowns, and women. Watson's ... Read full review
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Common terms and phrases
acid answer argument arranged arrival asked atoms backbone base pairs bases became began biology bonds Bragg building Cambridge Cavendish chemical chemistry coiled coils College completely conversation Crick crystallographic Delbrück double helix English equal evidence existed experiments face fact final Francis friends gave genes genetic give given groups guanine hand held helical helix hope hydrogen idea immediately important interest John join King's knew later letter Linus London look lunch matter 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 sure talk tell theory thinking thought tion told walked wanted week X-ray
References to this book
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 |