Customer Reviews

The Eighth Day of Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Biology, 25th Anniversary Edition

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Judson's book, like Tracy Kidder's "The Soul of a New
Machine", stands out for getting it: the passion, the
politics, and the personalities behind scientific
and technological progress, as well as its pitfalls and
cul de sacs. Judson's book, like no other I've read,
captures molecular biology as it is practiced.

I received this book as a gift in 1980 when I was a
college freshman hoping to major in biochemistry.
Today, much as I like to see the biomedical research I
do as a rational, deductive, "hypothesis-driven"
affair, there is unescapably the human element. Think
ego, and all of the other human qualities, respectable
or scorned. Have you seen genome sequencer J. Craig
Venter on the cover of Time (or was it Newsweek?). What
do you think put him there?

Science as a human endeavor was put forth theoretically
in 1962 by historian Thomas Kuhn in his "The Structure
of Scientific Revolutions". Complementing Kuhn, Judson
illustrates it in deliciously readable human terms. For
this reason this book is unmatched and is worth six,
not five, stars.

Max Perutz appears significantly in Judson's story. In
1990, as a beginning graduate student, I had the
priviledge of meeting and conversing with Perutz. He
was just as Judson portrayed him: modest, plodding,
dedicated, pursuing what he might learn from the
structure and properties of hemoglobin. Reading Judson
a decade earlier prepared me for this most important
meeting for me.

Though dated (the story stops about 1975), I heartily
recommend this book to anyone considering a career in
biomedical research. Judson successfully conveys the
human reality of that honorable profession. Some times
it hurts -- crystallographer Rosalind Franklin never
got her due -- but that's the state of the profession.

I loved this book. Before reading it, I had the rather naive view that Crick and Watson discovered the structure of DNA and suddenly "all was light". I hadn't realised the huge effort required over the next twenty years to attain an understanding of the linkages between that structure and the biological processes it codes for. Judson's book tells that story, in detail, and is written at a level that I could follow (as a layperson with a keen interest in science).

Judson talked to the researchers responsible for all the major developments in molecular biology, and quotes extensively from his interviews, so the reader gets a feel for the human side of the great adventure, the sense of community and the rivalries, the frustrations and dead ends as well as the victories.

Be warned that it is not a light or short read. It demands the reader's close attention. Fortunately, though, it is a pageturner that (with only minor exceptions) keeps the reader gripped.

It should also be noted that the first edition of the book was written in the early seventies and, while no doubt Freedland has updated it, the main narrative ends in about 1972. There is a final chapter on developments since then, but it is of necessity quite brief and touches on a limited number of highlights.

A gripping drama with the biggest question of all, what is life? That's what "The Eighth Day of Creation" is, a historical drama capturing the characters, the challenges, the thrills and disappointment that makes science the compelling endeavor that it is. It's unfortunate that this book has not been made into what would be a great mini-series.

The brilliance of this book is that it investigates the people behind the science, and how they approach their problems. Some are matters of pure logic to deduce the results such as the deciphering of the genetic code, while others are pure perseverance such as coming up with the physical structure of myoglobin. But what makes the book powerful is that each discovery is a major accomplishment, but that it also uncovers the next question. And Judson follows the line of reasoning to answer the next question. It also explores the human side of science, the fierce faith that an answer exists and that they will find it. You get a flavor of science as it is practiced in James Watson's "The Double Helix" but you get the full meal here.

A warning, while the book goes to great lengths to explain the science, those lacking at least college biology may find the subject matter difficult to comprehend. More valuable for graduate students in any of the sciences, it is a complement to the facts by giving a perspective on how those facts are discovered.

I used to think "The Soul of a New Machine" by Tracy Kidder was unsurpassable in this genre. But the truth is, "The Eight Day of Creation" is far more ambitious, far more informative, far more amazing, and far more important. And it's also very beautifully written. What a great way for people to find out what the deepest truths are in biology, and how they were discovered!

Judson tells the story of the birth of molecular biology and giants who nurtured it. Insightful not just of the challenges of the science itself but also of the lives of the many who shaped it. It instilled a deep sense of appreciation in me for the efforts of the many scientists involved in shaping the field of molecular biology without the aid of the modern tools and techniques we scientists take for granted. Highly recommended for anyone with an appreciation for science especially, undergrduates.

Wonderful, it is simply the best book on the subject. An account that carefully balances scientific contents and personal issues of the scientists from the early times of molecular biology and conveys the the thrill of professional research.

Back in the 1990s, in my early 50s, I thought about shifting into genetic counseling, and took a series of undergraduate biology courses in preparation. A most exciting day was when, in the Cell and Molecular Biology lab, my lab partner and I isolated DNA. I felt as if I were walking on air! Later, writing up a lab report, I reread large chunks of The Eighth Day of Creation, to see that the various experiments we carried out in that lab replicated the pathway to understanding that had gone on in the 1950s and '60s.

I didn't make the move I was thinking about, but that course and the day we actually had a blob of DNA in our test tube, remains with me to this day. And this book put it all into context. Even today, it stands as a wonderful review of the process that resulted in a major "paradigm shift" (a la Kuhn) in biology. While The Double Helix is a fun, gossipy way to get into popular biology literature, The Eighth Day of Creation is where the real story is to be found.

Today, in the week of the bicentennial of Darwin's birth, I recommend this book as a great way to follow the thread from Darwin's deep insights of the mid-19th century to what we knew by the last 3rd of the 20th century. Obviously, the story continues from there, but the period covered by the book was seminal. And yes, some elementary biology is good background for reading it, but just as important is an interest in the social networks that underly an area of scientific endeavor. What Judson gives us is a picture of how the various scientists fed into each other's insights and experiment led into experiment. He's very good at describing important biological concepts -- readers with just a little biology under their belts will have no trouble following him.

presents discovery of DNA structure, RNA structure, and protein synthesis in a New Yorker style book. Very long, but very interesting. I've read the first half of the book twice, but haven't finished. I intend to finish it next time. Lots of fascinating anecdotal information.

When I received the book, advised by a friend, I got a shock. So thick with such small writing, I thought I'd never get through it! What a mistake; the text engulfed me and although not always prepared to such exposure of scientific material, my interest rarely subsided. I was fascinated to see how imagination and common sense were instrumental to push research. How ideas that are so obvious today seemed as wild hypotheses. How people just missed them. And how "gentlemanly" research was in those days. People spoke to each other, compared results, even before printing an abstract. Today, to preserve priority claims, scientists rush to the editor! Fierce competition has taken over.
DNA is central to our epoch and it's difficult to imagine that reputed scientists thought that the molecule was stupid, that it had nothing to do with genetics and that a genetic code was a hopeless idea. And the worst was still to come once the structure of DNA had been discovered! The eighth day of creation, a beautiful title, is a great book for those interested in the background of research work.