Share <Embed>

Buy New

$9.91

List Price: $16.99
Save: $7.08 (42%)

FREE Shipping on orders over $25—or get FREE Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Buy Used

$8.84

FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by TAP's Treasures

Fulfilled by Amazon

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Other Sellers on Amazon

Add to Cart

$8.99
+ $4.74 shipping

Sold by: textbookbuyingservices

Add to Cart

$13.79
& FREE Shipping on eligible orders. Details

Sold by: Remote Empire

Add to Cart

$10.36
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: OneStop Deals

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 3 images

The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA Paperback – June 12, 2001

by James D. Watson Ph.D. (Author)

213 customer reviews

See all 66 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$12.99

—

Hardcover, Special Edition

"Please retry"

$19.04

$15.70

$4.00

Paperback

"Please retry"

$9.91

$5.92

$1.86

Audible, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Mass Market Paperback

"Please retry"

$6.95

$1.76

MP3 CD, Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$14.99

$9.22

$35.95

The classic personal account of Watson and Crick’s groundbreaking discovery of the structure of DNA, now with an introduction by Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind.

By identifying the structure of DNA, the molecule of life, Francis Crick and James Watson revolutionized biochemistry and won themselves a Nobel Prize. At the time, Watson was only twenty-four, a young scientist hungry to make his mark. His uncompromisingly honest account of the heady days of their thrilling sprint against other world-class researchers to solve one of science’s greatest mysteries gives a dazzlingly clear picture of a world of brilliant scientists with great gifts, very human ambitions, and bitter rivalries.

With humility unspoiled by false modesty, Watson relates his and Crick’s desperate efforts to beat Linus Pauling to the Holy Grail of life sciences, the identification of the basic building block of life. Never has a scientist been so truthful in capturing in words the flavor of his work.

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Brenda Maddox

82

Paperback
$12.97
Michael Frayn

66

Paperback
$11.08
Galileo Galilei

9

Paperback
$15.00
Harm de Blij

58

Paperback
$14.72
Michael Cummings

45

Paperback
$73.77
Lewis Thomas

101

Paperback
$12.68

Editorial Reviews

Review

Robert K. Merton The New York Times Book Review A fascinating case history...Describes the events that led up to one of the great biological discoveries of our time.

Jacob Bronowski The Nation No one could miss the excitement in this story of a great and beautiful discovery....The book communicates the spirit of science as no formal account has ever done....the sense of the future, the high spirits, and the rivalry and the guesses right and wrong, the surge of imagination and the test of fact.

Peter B. Medewar The New York Review of Books An enormous success...a classic.

Andre Lwoff Scientific American The history of a scientific endeavor, a true detective story that leaves the reader breathless from beginning to end.

Richard Feynman He has described admirably how it feels to have that frightening and beautiful experience of making a scientific discovery.

Philip Morrison Life Lively, wholly brash, full of sharp and sudden opinion, often at the edge of scandal.

About the Author

James D. Watson, together with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1962. He is Chancellor Emeritus of the Watson School of Biological Sciences at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Touchstone; First Touchstone Edition edition (June 12, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 074321630X
ISBN-13: 978-0743216302
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 213 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #9 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Biology > Molecular Biology
- #11 in Books > Medical Books > Basic Sciences > Cell Biology
- #16 in Books > Science & Math > Reference

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Start reading The Double Helix on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Customer Reviews

Write a customer review

See all 213 customer reviews

Read reviews that mention

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Seneca

All in all a good read, though not the spectacular one I thought it would be.

April 7, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Recently I was asked to do a short paper on military innovation for a conference to be held in South Korea. Having read somewhere that this is the best book on how scientific discoveries are made, I bought it and read it from cover to cover. Even though much of the science is above my head. Much of the book is devoted to backbiting aimed at Prof. Watson's associates. Including the most important one among them, Francis Crick. In other ways, though, it provides a vivid picture of the politics, intrigues, frustrations, and joys of doing research. I also found the descriptions of grantmanship and life at Cambridge, England, during the early 1950s interesting.

All in all a good read, though not the spectacular one I thought it would be.

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Russell A. Rohde MD

"An Up Close & Personal Look at James D. Watson"

November 9, 2007

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

"The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of The Structure of DNA", James D. Watson, Simon & Shuster, NY 1968/2001. ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-1630-2, PB 226 pages, 20 B/W Photos & 11 Diagrams, plus 3 pg. Foreword by Sir L. Bragg & 4 pg. Intro. by S. Nasar. 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".

Written by Dr. James D. Watson in 1968, reprinted several times, this is one of the most intriguing, personal stories of scientific endeavors written to unravel the molecular basis of heredity and the genetic code of life itself, the DNA molecule - deservingly referenced as the Holy Grail of scientific inqiry. With an explanatory apology, Watson describes his maturation from an initial lazy undergraduate at Univ. of Chicago having primary interest in ornithology and avoiding chemistry and physics courses,to doing post-doctoral research abroad, first in Copenhagen and subsequently in Cambridge where he began serious research with Francis Crick that culminated in elucidating the molecular structure of the double helix DNA molecule with base-pairing of A-T and G-C, allowing a model construct possessing correspondence to its X-ray crystalline lattice structure. Much of the time it appeared to a 'Mission Impossible'. Success came in 1953, Watson was then 25 years old.

The author's prose and pace of relating this story reveals the passion of his quest to establish his mark in science - and he relates intimate anecdotes of his cohorts, teachers and the scientific cult of divisions enjoyed by the scholarly, erudite academicians in England and elsewhere. In the end, he shared along with his associate Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins, the Nobel Prize in 1962. The future of medicine was forever changed. The book is a compelling, refrehing read for anyone with a modicum of curiosity - a science background is not essential.

6 people found this helpful

Comment

May 8, 2002

Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase

This firsthand account of the discovery of DNA dispels a lot of the notions that ousiders have about how science really works. Watson's descriptions of the competition, politics, dead ends, personality clashes, mistakes, and eventually inspiration reveal that discovery is not as clear-cut a process as it sometimes might seem.
Watson is honest in his introduction that his account is just that, the story told through his own point of view, complete with possible faulty memories and personal prejudices. I was intrigued by the portrayals of the personalities of so many famous figures that I've been learning about for years in my biology and genetics classes - Francis Crick, of course, along with Maurice Wilikins, Rosalind Franklin, Linus Pauling, and many more. I was touched by Watson's admission at the end of the book that his unfavorable impressions of Rosalind Franklin stemmed from the fact that she was a woman trying to make a name for herself in the male-dominated world of scientific research in the 1950s.
There is quite a bit of biological jargon in this book, and though it could probably be read by someone without any knowledge of genetics, it will be appreciated more by readers with some background. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in genetics and science.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Bernard Lavallee

Exceptional look into the mind of a scientists

April 15, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Wonderful book if you're interested in how the mind of a scientist works. Considering the immense importance of discovery of the double helix, it should be required reading for anyone interested in evolution. A bit heavy on the chemistry side but just pass over it as you read. It's the personality revelations that are truly enlightening.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

Most recent customer reviews

LC Scharmann

it was a great bargain.

For the price, it was a great bargain.

Published 1 month ago

Miz Brody

Anyone who loves the discovery process will enjoy this book

Anyone who loves the discovery process will enjoy this book. An adventure leading to the most important discovery about humanity ever, the process was excruciating but the rewards...Read more

Published 4 months ago

Peter Mccormick

A Unique First-Person Account of Science As-It-Happened

Amazing, extremely well-written account of the science leading to the discovery of the structure of DNA!

Published 5 months ago

Kathryn

Surprising!

Had to read for college, but actually a decent book!

Published 8 months ago

Good Bird

Includes some nice illustrations of original work

Got this for my daughter's high school english class. Includes some nice illustrations of original work. Arrived in perfect condition.

Published 9 months ago

Steven Pell

Innovation is messy (but this book is brilliant)

This is a book that’s about the messiness of breakthrough innovation. James Watson tells the story of the discovery of the structure of DNA (for which he was awarded a Nobel...Read more

Published 9 months ago

Amazon Customer

Quite a bit of water damage on the front cover ...

Quite a bit of water damage on the front cover which bothers me but other than that it seems worth $4

Published 10 months ago

Jimmy James

The Double Headache

Quite possibly the worst book I ever kinda read. The writing is not good and the subject matter is micro-biology and organic chemistry.Read more

Published 10 months ago

M&M

Five Stars

Came in great condition, and it's definitely worth the read!

Published 10 months ago

Franklin D. Rumjanek

A great story about the perfect partnership in science

After so many years and at least three readings, The Double Helix is still thrilling and totally inspiring. I highly recommend this book.Read more

Published 11 months ago

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA

Set up a giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.