The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discover of the Structure of DNA

Watson, James D.

ISBN 10: 0297818147 / ISBN 13: 9780297818144

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson, London, 1997

About this Item

1997 Weidenfield Edition. 175 pages. Price (18.89 Pounds) present on DJ flap. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Seller Inventory # 042471

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discover of the Structure of DNA
• Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, London
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0297818147
• ISBN 13: 9780297818144
• Binding: Hard Cover
• Illustrator: Illus. With Photos
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • NOBEL WINNERS

About this title

Synopsis

THE DOUBLE HELIX is more than the 'inside story' of one man's part in a revolutionary discovery. It is an amazing narrative written ont the assumption that science is a human endeavour important enough to be written about forthrightly.

Review

"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