Watson and DNA: Making a Scientific Revolution

Victor K. Mcelheny

ISBN 10: 0738203416 / ISBN 13: 9780738203416

Published by Basic Books, 2003

May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0738203416I4N00

Synopsis:

From the discovery of the double helix to the imminent sequencing of the human genome, James Watson has been at dead center in this great biological revolution. Since the very morning after his Nobel Prize-winning discovery, he has continued to ride the scientific supernova that he and his collaborator, Francis Crick, detonated in 1953. Targeting the big questions, mobilizing the best talent, writing the textbook that defined molecular biology, energizing the "war on cancer," he has served as a prime mover of the DNA era.Now, a distinguished science reporter who has known him for decades and worked for him for four years, with unique access to the scientists who know Watson best, has written an unauthorized, non-reverential account of this extraordinary man. While Watson is probably the most influential scientist in the last half-century, he is also one of the most controversial. From the ruthless competition in the race to identify the structure of DNA, to clashes with ethicists over charged issues in genetics, to a chorus of Bronx cheers for his recent memoir, Watson has left a wake of detractors as well as fans. Until now, Watson has managed to keep control over his legend, fending off aspiring biographers with his own memoirs. Victor McElheny gets behind this invented persona, bringing us close to the relentless genius who triggered and sustained a revolution in science that affects us all.A Merloyd Lawrence Book

About the Author: Victor K. McElheny is a distinguished science journalist who has covered the revolution in molecular biology for the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and Science for over three decades. He is the author of Insisting on the Impossible, a highly praised life of the inventor of instant photography, Edwin Land. The New Scientist called the book "insightful, meticulously researched, exquisitely written," while the Economist raved that "[t]he craft of biography gets no better." At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, McElheny ran the Knight Science Journalism Fellowships. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Watson and DNA: Making a Scientific ...
Publisher: Basic Books
Publication Date: 2003
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket