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Heraclitean Fire: Sketches from a Life Before Nature

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I just finished reading Erwin Chargaff's "Heraclitean Fire: Sketches from a Life before Nature" and all I can say is--"Wow!" Not only are the author's insights and experiences offered with incredible wit and richness, but the book is as timely and profound today in the year 2000, as when it was first published, almost twenty-five years ago. This book, desperately, needs to be read by all concerned and intelligent people around the world, as well as, all students, among institutions of higher learning.

This book was written by the man who discovered one of the basic properties of DNA, information later used by Watson and Crick who received the Nobel Prize for working out the structure of that same molecule. The book tells of science and personality in a sardonic wit that would have provoked envy from Ambrose Bierce. Also recommended for those who want to know what really goes on in science rather than what they hear in the news.

I agree with the other reviews that identify "Heraclitean Fire: Sketches from a Life before Nature" as a must read for would be scientists. It is written beautifully in a style I'm more likley to call prose, especially when compared to the majority of modern writing. Chargaff is somewhat bitter and his general attitude is a bit bemusing at times. The book is a mix of his life story and the hidden nature of the scientific field.

I'm a non-scientist so it's hard for me to judge how accurate his description of science in 1978 is to the year 2007. But I found a lot of the points he made about the direction of "American style" science very important.

This blend of superb writing, biography and discussion of science makes for an interesting read. It's the best kind of book for people who love new ideas and great minds. Don't let Chargaff's modesty fool you, he's a genius. And perhaps at a young age he should have followed his calling to writing.

Heraclitean Fire is Professor Erwin Chargaff's memoir of his life, with a focus on his path-making work on the structure of DNA. Erwin Chargaff was a biochemist who aided and by his own account largely inspired the quest to determine the structure of DNA, and thus launching the great revolution in molecular biology of the second half of the last century. Chargaff claims that he started the race with a paper "Kekule's Second Dream", a reference to the legend that Kekule solved the structural formula for benzene by dreaming of the Ouroboros, the snake biting its tail. Chargaff is usually credited with having discovered the principle of base complementarity in the analytical sense--that guanine + cytosine and adenine + thiamine occur in equal proportions in any given living tissue and that their relative proportions are constants for any given species, but may differ between species. Chargaff seems to regard himself as something of a failure for not having determined the structure himself, while at the same time regarding Watson and Crick as poseurs and imposters, without really explaining why. Apparently, he has some sour grapes. Chargaff regards Oswald Avery as the true presiding grandfather of the field for his experiment proving that DNA carries the hereditary information.

Chargaff was probably meant to be more of a literary figure than a scientist, as he seems pre-occupied with arts, languages, and literature more than science. His writing is very dense and elegant in style, full of erudite wit and abstruse literary and classical allusions. He claims to have studied nine languages and was clearly fluent in Latin, peppering each page with original Latin epigrams. I found myself reaching for the dictionary on just about every page! (And English was not his mother tongue!)

On the other hand, I felt his thought went off the rails somewhat towards the end of the book, as the narrative meandered into a tangle of purposelessness and self-indulgence. Chargaff was among the hysterical ranks of those who opposed genetic engineering on the grounds that nature should not be tampered with. He was also opposed to the splitting of the atom, perhaps with more justification. In general, Chargaff laments the evolution of science into a profession with minute ramifications of specialization from what he apparently considered a holistic art in his earlier days.

Overall, the book is a rewarding but far from essential read for the scientific enthusiast, especially for someone with a literary or artisitc bent.