The Double Helix
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The Double Helix
James D. Watson
Science & Nature
James Mustich
Aug 2, 2018
In 1968, Watson published this candid, page-turning account of his and Crick’s momentous discovery that the DNA molecule is shaped like a double helix—that is, like a twisted ladder or a spiral staircase. Exuding the author’s brash ego, unrelenting drive, and often unchecked opinions, The Double Helix eschews the scholarly decorum readers might expect; nonetheless—or perhaps because of these qualities—it is among the best and most influential books ever written about science. As Nobel Prize-winning physicist and bestselling author Richard P. Feynman observed, Watson’s narrative admirably captures “how it feels to have that frightening and beautiful experience of making a scientific discovery.” In Watson’s own view, that frightening and beautiful experience was an “adventure characterized both by youthful arrogance and by the belief that the truth, once found, would be simple as well as pretty.” Involving numerous personality conflicts and controversies, and, in Watson’s apt assessment, “complicated by the contradictory pulls of ambition and the sense of fair play,” The Double Helix is both the documentary of an invaluable discovery and a riveting human drama.
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Ramesh Narayanaswamy
Dec 2, 2018
This style of Scientists' biography/autobiography is worth reading for folks pursuing even decidedly more modest goals in science and technology. Watson's bio is one of better ones.
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Rachel
Aug 25, 2023
I bet Rosaland Franklin doesnt get the credit she deserves here
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