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The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA by [Watson, James D.]

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The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA Kindle Edition

by James D. Watson (Author)

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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.

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Product details

File Size: 2590 KB
Print Length: 256 pages
Publisher: Scribner (August 16, 2011)
Publication Date: August 16, 2011
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B00570ALPC
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

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Not Enabled

Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Not Enabled
Screen Reader: Supported

Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,323 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #6 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Science > Biological Sciences > Biology > Cell Biology
- #22 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Science > Genetics
- #23 in Books > Medical Books > Basic Sciences > Cell Biology

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Roberto Rigolin F Lopes

Figuring out the pretty DNA structure

August 21, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

We are in 1968, Watson is telling us how he and his friend Crick managed to figured out the pretty DNA structure. He is entertaining while speaking his mind sharing all the trouble to get the model done. The whole thing is knitted together with bits of his social life and impressions on Copenhagen and Cambridge. Sometimes it feels like a journal written by a 25 years old rebel eager to crack the secrets of life and to experience it to the hilt. Crick’s "What mad pursuit" complements this book beautifully. But not as pretty as DNA.

Comment

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.

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

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

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