Double helix

Author: Watson
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: Watson's book is merely a personal account and perspective on a significant event, not history. Although he was a key figure, history seems not to be entirely written by those directly involved. Of course, even from the perspective of enlightening future generations, one should approach the science Watson describes with a calm attitude. Does success in the methods and approaches they used truly guarantee success? If there is any lesson to be learned from Watson's book about understanding scientific work, it is that the subject of science is complex, and there are diverse ways to understand the mysteries of nature. To achieve something, one should not be confined by any fixed models, including those established by Watson and Crick. This book tells the real story of the discovery of DNA—a double helix structure formed by two simple chemical chains called "bases" intertwining. Watson, one of the protagonists, was only 23 years old at the time and had just recently graduated, yet he achieved such a monumental feat. His writing is naturally candid, honest, and even arrogant, as seen in his straightforward admission of his utilitarian academic approach, learning whatever he could, using whatever methods proved effective, and extending the reach of knowledge to every possible area. He speaks of his contemporaries, the scientific celebrities of his time, with a playful and disrespectful tone, to the extent that "the characters involved in the book must be read with a tolerant spirit." In short, this book brings to life the personal experience and inner journey of a major scientific event. It is not writing history, yet it is more vivid than history books, and therefore, it can more effectively evoke the excitement of reading in the hearts of its readers. In the history of contemporary science, there is such a successful "bad boy," so full of character and intellect.