The Double Helix
LC Class | QU58W339d 1968 | |
The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA is an autobiographical account of the discovery of the
Significance
Watson is a U.S. molecular biologist, geneticist and zoologist, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA in 1953 with Francis Crick.
In 1998, the Modern Library placed The Double Helix at number 7 on its list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the 20th century. In 2012, The Double Helix was named as one of the 88 "Books That Shaped America" by the Library of Congress.
Though an important book about an immensely important subject, it was and remains a controversial account. Though it was originally slated to be published by
The intimate first-person memoir about scientific discovery was unusual for its time. The book has been hailed for its highly personal view of scientific work, though has been criticised as caring only about the glory of priority and the author is claimed to be willing to appropriate data from others surreptitiously in order to obtain it. It has also been criticized as being disagreeably sexist towards Rosalind Franklin, another participant in the discovery, who was deceased by the time Watson's book was written.
The events described in the book were dramatized in a BBC television program
Criticism
The book leaned heavily on personalities, and some, like Rosalind Franklin, were treated cartoonishly.
Burton Feldman[1]
A 1980
In the book
In the book's preface, Watson explains that he is describing his impressions at the time of the events, and not at the time he wrote the book. In the epilogue Watson writes; "Since my initial impressions about [Franklin], both scientific and personal (as recorded in the early pages of this book) were often wrong I want to say something here about her achievements." He goes on to describe her superb work, and, despite this, the enormous barriers she faced as a woman in the field of science. He also acknowledged that it took years to overcome their bickering before he could appreciate Franklin's generosity and integrity.
An annotated and illustrated edition
An annotated and illustrated version of the book, edited by Alex Gann and Jan Witkowski, was published in November 2012 by
The book does not include the four press cuttings from the News Chronicle, Varsity and The New York Times (2) of May and June 1953 regarding the discovery of the structure of DNA, and Crick's letter of 13th April 1967 is incomplete.
Film adaptation
In 1987, the memoir was adapted as a 107-minute television docudrama called
The film won several awards in the UK and U.S., including the 1988
Notes
- ^ ISBN 1-55970-592-2.
- ^ Wade, Nicholas (2012-11-12). "Twists in the Tale of the Great DNA Discovery". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
References
- James D. Watson, The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA (1968), Atheneum, 1980, OCLC 6197022
- James D. Watson, The Annotated and Illustrated Double Helix, edited by Alexander Gann and Jan Witkowski (2012) ISBN 978-1-4767-1549-0.
- James D. Watson, The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA (1980 Norton Critical Edition), editor Gunther Stent, W.W. Norton, ISBN 0-393-95075-1.
- Maddox, Brenda (2002). Rosalind Franklin: the dark lady of DNA. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-393-32044-8.
- Sayre, Anne. Rosalind Franklin and DNA (1975), New York: W.W. Norton and Company, ISBN 0-393-32044-8
- ISBN 0-19-860665-6
External links
- [1] Interview with editors of the Annotated and Illustrated edition, 2012
- Photos of the first edition of The Double Helix
- A Reader's Guide to The Double Helix, 2009 by Kenneth R. Miller, a biology professor at Brown University
- Resource Page for The Double Helix used in Biology 20, The Foundations of Living Systems, a course at Brown University
- [2] 'DNA Pioneer James Watson Reveals Helix Story Was Almost Never Told,' Robin McKie, The Observer, 8 December 2012
