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Title: The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA by James D. Watson, Gunther S. Stent ISBN: 0-393-95075-1 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: February, 1981 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.20 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.73 (60 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Understated Account of a Really Big Event
Comment: Clarification is in order. First of all, this is not a substantive science book. For all the significance of the discovery it chronicles, The Double Helix never bothers to explain how, for example, x-ray crystallography actually works, or what the difference between a keto- and an -enol is, or even why Watson's and Crick's discovery brought on a new era in the life sciences. Aspiring students of genetics and molecular biology are urged to inquire elsewhere for answers to these questions.
Second, to label The Double Helix a book on scientific method is almost equally misleading - the reason being that there is no room in the rarefied formalism extolled by the likes of Karl Popper for Watson's subjectivity and sarcasm, not to mention the latter's frequent excursions on nubile au pairs and the deplorable student housing market at Cambridge.
Third (not that it matters for an appreciation of the book, but it's a common misunderstanding), Watson and Crick did not discover DNA itself, or even the function of DNA. Rather, they were awarded the Nobel Prize for solving the molecular structure of DNA.
With those clarifications in mind, The Double Helix is a profitable read. Watson shows us non-scientists that the practice of science is "just" another human endeavor, and not some remote, sterilized activity conducted by emotional eunuchs in white coats. Watson's first-person narrative is downright conversational, as if he's talking shop over a pint of stout in an English pub. He is unabashedly honest about both his ambitions and his naivete (he was only 23 at the time the events in the book took place). And his sometimes scathing portrayals of his colleagues - in all their brilliance and banality - give the impression that working in a world-class research facility is a lot like working anywhere else.
Francis Crick comes across as that certain guy we all knew in college (wherever and whenever that was) - impish and boisterous, egocentric but big-hearted, who might be dapper if he didn't sleep in his clothes, whose eccentricity is the bane of faculty advisors, whose attention is everywhere but on task, whose breath sometimes smells like beer after lunch, and whose serendipitous genius comes through at all the right times. The supporting cast is equally colorful: Maurice Wilkins, the quintessential English academic stuffed corpse; Rosalind Franklin, a Freudian caricature of icy feminine competence in a man's world; the godlike Linus Pauling playing with his tinker toy molecular models in California.
And it wasn't just his colleagues who made Watson's work interesting. There were the aforementioned au pairs, the pubs and the parties and the formal receptions, there was the professional competitiveness between the English and the Americans - with Watson (a Yank in Cambridge) more of an American insurance policy against the Brits getting all the credit for solving DNA if Pauling wasn't fast enough. And there was the Cold War, which had an impact on research priorities and, sometimes, hampered communication in the scientific community.
But most importantly - although Watson never deigns to make this point explicit - The Double Helix is a fascinating chronicle of the scientific method in action, notwithstanding the politics, the distractions, and the idiosyncrasies of the protagonists. The task itself was daunting. Watson and Crick already knew what DNA was composed of, and they knew with some certainty the proportions in which the bases were represented, but there could only be one correct way to put all the pieces together and the haystack was a big one. The researchers were quick to offer and to accept criticism, and false leads were abandoned without regard to ego or sunk time. Even though each wanted to get there first, London shared their findings with Cambridge, Cambridge shared their insights with London, and England and California held nothing from each other for long - admirable examples of the "sociable competition" of science that expedites discovery.
In the end, Watson's and Crick's success relied heavily on Wilkins's and Franklin's crystallography, with important contributions from whomever happened to stop by the lab during the two year period, and insights from conferences and the textbooks and articles Watson happened to read at the time. Creativity, serendipity, and openness to the ideas of others eventually yielded hypotheses, which were tested using Pauling's modeling methods. It could not have been done alone, as Watson makes clear, and the structure of DNA would have been discovered sooner or later. While ultimately it doesn't matter who gets the credit for the discovery, the world seems a better place for James Watson's being involved, if only because The Double Helix is such an entertaining read.
Rating: 3
Summary: "Honest Jim's" Version of a Major Scientific Event
Comment: =====>
In this book (first published in 1968), "Honest Jim" (as a scientist friend called him) or Dr. James Watson (born: 1928) has explained his "version of how the structure of DNA was discovered" and "this account represents the way [he] saw things then, in [the fall of] 1951 - [spring of] 1953." (The discovery was announced in April 1953.) That is, he has "attempted to re-create [his] first impressions of the relevant events and personalities" that he encountered along the way to making the discovery. Thus, understand this is not a book of historical facts.
Also, because of the personal nature of this book Watson states that "many of the comments [that he makes] may seem one-sided and unfair, but this is often the case in the incomplete and hurried way in which human beings decide to like or dislike a new idea or [a new] acquaintance."
This book revolves around five main people: Dr. Francis Crick (born: 1916) & Watson (both of the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge); Dr. Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958) & Dr. Maurice Wilkins (born: 1916) (both of King's College, a divison of the University of London); and Dr. Linus Pauling (1901-1994)(of the California Institute of Technology). However, along the way the reader meets many other people, both scientists and non-scientists.
As Watson explains, the above five people are in a "race" to discover DNA's structure. However, I got the impression that neither Franklin nor Wilkins knew they were in a race. By the end of the race, Watson was "one of the winners" who shared the Nobel Prize in 1962 with Crick and Wilkins.
This 29-chapter (with epilogue) book is a fast read (but only if you gloss over the science parts). As Watson proceeds in this story, you'll find that he is quite sociable and takes us to such places as pubs, restaurants, and "smashing" parties.
As you read this book, you'll find that there is considerable tension between Watson and Franklin (who was an expert in X-ray diffraction crystallography) as well as between Wilkins and Franklin.
For me, this book imparts four major things:
(1) THE THRILL OF DISCOVERY. That is, this book effectively conveys, especially in the latter chapters, the struggle to find the correct answer. With each chapter, the anticipation mounts toward the final climax: the discovery of the helical structure of DNA.
(2) HOW SCIENCE IS DONE. For example, both Watson & Crick and Pauling used molecular models while Franklin & Wilkins used X-ray crystallography. However, all science is not done as it is conveyed in this book. As Watson states, "styles of scientific research vary almost as much as human personalities."
(3) THE QUESTION OF ETHICS IN SCIENCE. For example, Wilkins told Watson secretly that Franklin "had evidence for a new three-dimensional form of DNA." When Watson "asked what the pattern [of this new form] was like, [Wilkins] went into the adjacent room to pick up an [X-ray diffraction] print [or photograph] of [this] new form [called the 'B' form]" and showed it to Watson. This was done without Franklin's permission. It turns out that this X-ray photo was critical and "gave several...vital helical parameters."
(4) WATSON'S HONESTY. In all of this book, Franklin is portrayed as an unattractive, unapproachable, and angry person whose scientific work is questionable. However, in the book's epilogue Watson devotes the last two paragraphs to her and her achievements. He admits that "my initial impressions of her, both scientific and personal...were often wrong" and that she was a person of "personal honesty and generosity" as well as "intelligence."
Two good features of this book are that it has photographs (a total of 19) and diagrams (a total of 11) throughout. My favorite photo is the one entitled "X-ray diffraction photograph of DNA, B form" taken by Franklin in late 1952. My favorite diagram is entitled "Schematic illustration of the double helix."
This book was written for a general audience so they could experience the thrill of this revolutionary discovery. Thus, I was surprised that it had no chapter table of contents (but the photos and diagrams each have one), no chapter headings, and no index. I feel these would have made the book more user friendly.
Also, I feel what was needed was a science glossary and name index/page. The former is needed because the reader encounters many scientific terms (especially those related to DNA) and thus a glossay would make the science more accessible to the general reader. The latter is needed because Watson encounters many people and a name index/page would have helped the reader keep track of these names. Besides Watson talked with other scientists to clarify ideas, and in a way they indirectly contributed to the discovery. Thus, a name index/page would have acknowledged their indirect contribution.
Finally, in the epilogue Watson states, "All of [the major] people [in this book], should they desire, can indicate events and details they remember differently." Thus, I recommend these books:
(1) "Linus Pauling: Scientist and Peacemaker" (2001). In this book, refer to the science article entitled "The Triple Helix" which describes the race to discover DNA's structure. Note Pauling's observations throughout the article.
(2) "Rosalind Franklin and DNA" (first published in 1975) by Anne Sayre. This book clears up Watson's misconceptions about Franklin who died in 1958.
(3) "The Third Man of the Double Helix" (November 2003) by Maurice Wilkins. Wilkins finally speaks out on what really happened from his perspective.
In conclusion, Dr. James Watson tells us honestly his version of how the structure of DNA was discovered. He effectively conveys the struggle to find the right answer and the thrill of discovery. Don't deny yourself from reading this exciting book but be sure to read the recommended books to get the full story.
*** 1/2
<=====>
Rating: 1
Summary: A Self-Serving book that misrepresents how science is done
Comment: Many of us who read further than the words written by a single author, gossipy, but holding back in this book very much for self-serving reasons can only find this book distressing in its misrepresentations about how the science of DNA developed. They should have heard the PBS special on what was left out of this "just so" story, the chronology behind the discovery, the meaness and dishonesty of Watson and Crick to other co-scientists not only Franklin but also an Eastern European from whom they cribbed-without-credit yet another core ideas which they incorporated in the final melange of stolen and pieced together rip offs with ideas they later developed. Perhaps this is how science is done, if so it is tragic as the Scientific American review states science would then be merely an excercise in Hobbsian ethics and worse where the villains write the definitive "just so" story. Basically Watson lies here, but tells something closer to the truth on the PBS tape, proud that he had such a good memory as to steal other peoples work and ideas! Disgusting! He and Crick from what Watson says on tape "discovered the secret of life" after Watson stole into Franklins lab and also misrepresented why they pumped key ideas from still another scientis. An undergradute would have been expelled for such activies. I grant that later, and they were originally expelled having gotten the idea they did make contributions, but before these activities zero. See the PBC take the ABC's of DNA. Also read beyond what Watson writes here to get the whole plot, read others.Bad enough that Watson and Crick ripped others off, but that Watson gets to write the definite book on it is pathetic.
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Title: DNA : The Secret of Life by Andrew Berry, James D. Watson ISBN: 0375415467 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
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Title: Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox ISBN: 0060184078 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Rosalind Franklin and DNA by Anne Sayre ISBN: 0393320448 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: July, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Genes, Girls, and Gamow: After the Double Helix by James D. Watson ISBN: 0375412832 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 29 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: Genome by Matt Ridley ISBN: 0060932902 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 03 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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