The Double Helix
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Image:JamesWatson.jpg The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA is an autobiographical account of the discovery of structure of DNA. It was written by James D. Watson and published in 1968. Very few other "big" scientific discoveries have such intimate first-person accounts. The Norton Critical Edition includes a fascinating set of related scientific and literary pieces by such figures as Peter Medawar, Max Perutz, and Robert K. Merton. The film The Race for the Double Helix offers an entertaining and insightful dramatization of the story.
Criticisms
In the book Rosalind Franklin and DNA, author Anne Sayre is very critical of Watson's account. She claims that Watson misrepresented Rosalind Franklin, the assistant of Maurice Wilkins at King's College, London, and the role she played in Watson and Crick's discovery. Sayre calls doubt on the ethics of their use of some of Franklin's work, and adequate credit was given for it.
References
- James D. Watson, The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA, Atheneum, 1980, ISBN 0689706022 (first published in 1968)
- James D. Watson, The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA (Norton Critical Editions), Norton, 1981, ISBN 0393950751.Template:Science-book-stub