Of Molecules and Men (Great Minds Series) [Paperback]

Francis Crick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2004 | Series: Great Minds Series

Though written forty years ago, this succinct, lucid explication of the scientific facts remains the perfect primer for the lay reader curious about the ongoing biological revolution and is amazingly prescient in light of recent developments. It is a fascinating, still-very-relevant discussion of many crucially important issues in life science.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Francis Harry Compton Crick was born on June 8, 1916, at Northampton, England. The elder son of Harry and Annie Elizabeth Wilkins Cricks, he was educated at Northampton Grammar School and Mill Hill School, London. He studied physics at University College, London, earning his bachelor's degree in 1937. His pursuit of a doctorate was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. Crick worked as a physicist for the British Admiralty during the war, leaning in 1947 to study biology. He earned his doctorate at Caius College, Cambridge University, in 1953.

Crick was a laboratory scientist at Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University. In 1962 he became director of Cambridge University's Molecular Biology Laboratory. From 1977 he was a faculty member at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, and is now a distinguished professor and president emeritus of the institute's Kieckhefer Center for Theoretical Biology. He was a visiting lecturer at the Rockefeller Institute, New York City, and a visiting professor at Harvard University. In 1959 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

In 1962 Crick won the Nobel Prize in physiology/medicine, with James D. Watson and Maurice H.F. Wilkins, for studies of the molecular structure of DNA. Queen Elizabeth II awarded him the Order of Merit in 1992.

Crick is the author of numerous papers and articles on molecular biology, and four books: OF MOLECULES AND MEN (1966), LIFE ITSELF: ITS ORIGIN AND NATURE (1981), WHAT MAD PURSUIT: A PERSONAL VIEW OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY (1988), and THE ASTONISHING HYPOTHESIS: THE SCIENTIFIC SEARCH FOR THE SOUL (1994).

Product Details

• Paperback: 115 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (April 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591021855
• ISBN-13: 978-1591021858
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #901,902 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touring Biology's Path to the Gene, January 18, 2008

By 

Mr. E. T. Dell Jr. (Peterborough, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Of Molecules and Men (Great Minds Series) (Paperback)

Sir Francis Crick provides a clear, compact exploration of the shape, size, and significance of the gene, the molecular basis of all life. He begins his discussion asking for a definition of aliveness. Then he traces clearly the path to our present knowledge of how the gene is structured and points out that its existence is totally a product of Darwinian evolution. This means that the gene is not the product of a prior plan, but results from a series of accidents. He also believes that most of the elements making up the gene can either now, or soon will, synthesize genes.
He describes the position of several scientists who posit an invisible, purposeful substance or influence which cause life to exist within the gene, called vitalism. He is highly critical of this position as being based on wishful thinking, or an attempt to support a theological assumption.
Crick is a partner in the Watson-Crick team who first described the structure of the gene in the 1950s. Watson wrote a very controversial account of the "race" to discover the gene's structure in his book "The Double Helix."
"Of Molecules and Men" is a delightful read, elegant, sparce, and by a genuine authority. Itis a surprisingly brief and informative examination of what the gene is which is enlightening for any reader.
E.T. Dell, Jr. Peterborough, NH