The Double Helix by James Watson







candour and humour describing a landmark event in history

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This
book, describing events from the early 1950’s, could be expected to be a little
out of fashion. Our knowledge of DNA has moved on and commentators have focussed
on Watson’s commitment to print, in his autobiography Avoid Boring People, of
some of his previously controversial comments. These comments discuss the innate
intelligence of racial groups and the choice of a mother to abort a foetus with
homosexual tendencies 1. But The Double Helix is historic and less than 200 pages
so I picked it up.

Watson’s
brashness is immediately evident and his directness is cringe-worthy. That Sir
Lawrence Bragg offered a preface when not only his work but also his character
are lampooned is a credit to the maturity of Bragg and Watson’s other
collaborators from that time. But it also indicates how important Bragg and
others considered this book to be. The characterisations of players such as
“Rosy” Frank and Maurice Wilkins can be weighed up by the reader, but Watson’s
portrayal of the intellectual milieu within and between research establishments
is sharp and telling. His subtle references to the English establishment, the
ruminations within the Cambridge intelligencia which later emerged as spying
controversy, the liberal sexual revolution and former generations’ religious
precepts are precious. Watson’s self-effacing humour about the dilettante abuse
of the scholarship system and his rampant opportunism are wonderful insights
into this period. It provides a delightful background upon which to portray a
step by step triumph of hard work, guesses and the triumph of the scientific
method. Watson’s epilogue touching on more recent events are also helpful but
probably do not win him back any friends.

1 Frank, L (2011) My Beautiful Genome. Oneworld, Oxford (previously
published in Danish as Mit Smukke
Genome by Gyldendal, 2011).