The annotated and illustrated double helix
By: James D. Watson ; edited by Alexander Gann & Jan Witkowski
Contributors: Gann, Alexander; Witkowski, J. A. (Jan Anthony), 1947-
Edition: 1st Simon & Schuster hardcover ed.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 345
ISBN-13: 9781476715490; 9781476715506
Subjects: Friends and associates; DNA; Molecular biology; Research; Molecular biologists; Genetic code; Biography; History
Description: On the fiftieth anniversary of Watson and Crick receiving the Nobel Prize, a freshly annotated and illustrated edition of The Double Helix provides new insights into the personal relationships among James Watson, Frances Crick, Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin and a scientific revolution. In his 1968 memoir, The Double Helix, James Watson offered a thrilling drama of the race among scientists to identify the structure of DNA. Professors Alexander Gann and Jan Witkowski have built upon this narrative; juxtaposing Watson's racy account with the commentary of other protagonists offering an enhanced perspective of the now legendary story. They have mined many sources: including a trove of newly discovered correspondence belonging to Francis Crick mislaid some fifty years earlier; excerpts from the papers of Maurice Wilkins, Linus Pauling, and Rosalind Franklin; and a chapter that had been dropped from the original. After half a century, the implications of the double helix keep rippling outward; the tools of molecular biology have forever transformed the life sciences. The New Annotated and Illustrated Edition of The Double Helix adds a richness to the account of the momentous events that led the charge. The Double Helix is the best book I know about a scientific discovery this new edition suffuses the whole with social history, fascinating documentation, photography, and cunning background research. The early fifties, the beginning of the modern age of molecular biology, spring to life. Ian McEwan, author of Atonement --Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Preface to Annotated and Illustrated Edition; title: Sir Lawrence  Bragg's Foreword to the original edition; title: Preface to the original edition; title: Prologue from the original edition; title: Chapters 1-29; title: Epilogue from the original edition; title: The Nobel prize; title: Appendix 1: The first letters describing the DNA model; title: Appendix 2: The lost chapter from The Double Helix; title: Appendix 3: Watson and the Merck Fellowship Board; title: Appendix 4: Writing and publishing The Double Helix; title: Appendix 5: Chargaff's review and the ensuing controversy.