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The Double Helix - A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA

4 stars (A joint thought model of special value to children and young adults ) - It has been mentioned by reviewers that Dr. R Franklin's contribution goes unappreciated. Of course she had died of cancer when Watson and Crick et. al. received the Nobel Prize; otherwise she would have been included, as she deserved. That aside, the principal value of young people's reading this book, aside from a passing familiarity with a key discovery of modern times, is the way Watson and Crick interacted to get to the truth. Each would attack the arguments of the other- not in the tricky sort of way one associates with TV lawyers, but pointing out the limits of the other's arguments and contradictions with established principles of chemistry and physics. It is somewhat akin to Talmudic argument. It has a good deal owed to the logic of Aristotle and the thought process of thesis, antithesis, synthesis repeated over and over developed by Hegal. The book provides enough insight to be of value without such technical detail that would take it out of the range of an average reader. 5 stars (Science and Personalities) - Comments can be directed to respectfulempiricist.com This is a marvelous little book that brings out impressions of the many great and not so great minds involved in the ultimate understanding of what DNA looks like and how it multiplies. As the title implies, Watson is describing his own subjective mental picture of the people and events that led up to his and Francis Crick's ultimate Nobel winning discovery, a discovery that has stood the test of time. Watson describes the personalities of the many people involved directly or otherwise. Though he uses kind words, it is apparent that different people and different times grated on him. He also describes his travels, academic frailties and personal loneliness. The latter while thinly veiled, was mentioned throughout the book. Though there was description throughout the memoir, it was not burdensome to the non ...
Touchstone :: Science & Genetics :: Science&Mathematics :: Science :: Life Sciences - Genetics & Genomics :: History :: General :: Dna (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) :: James D Watson :: :: The Double Helix - A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA