Form and Content

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

James D. Watson’s The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA is the author’s own account of perhaps the greatest biological breakthrough of the twentieth century. Watson describes key events and people that contributed the missing pieces to the puzzle of DNA structure. The book also is a study in human nature and the methods of science, as the author candidly examines the characters of the people with whom he worked and competed during the discovery of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Watson’s book is an excellent firsthand account of this important discovery.

The Double Helix follows a sequential format through twenty-nine brief chapters that cover the period from 1951 to 1953. The primary location for the book is the distinguished Cavendish laboratory of the University of Cambridge, England. The book begins in the fall of 1951, when Watson, a twenty-three-year-old biologist who had just received his doctorate from the University of Indiana, arrived at the Cavendish laboratory, which was headed by Nobel laureate Sir Lawrence Bragg.

Watson originally was studying chemistry and bacterial viruses at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. By chance, however, he met Maurice Wilkins of the Cavendish laboratory at a conference in Naples, Italy. He became excited about Wilkins’ search for the structure of DNA, made a good impression on Wilkins, and soon obtained permission to begin study at Cambridge. There, he almost immediately encountered Francis Crick, a brilliant thirty-five-year-old English physicist who was conducting doctoral research concerning the three-dimensional structure of proteins.

Watson and Crick quickly became a close-knit thinking team. They began an attempt to describe the structure of DNA, the enormous molecule that determines virtually every aspect of every cell of every living organism on earth. They proposed a possible structure in late 1951, but the structure contained numerous flaws and was easily discredited by their colleagues. Furthermore, Bragg’s and Crick’s adviser, Max Perutz, forbade their further work on DNA.

Wilkins and his assistant, Rosalind Franklin, received priority in seeking the structure of DNA. Unfortunately, Franklin was very independent and uncooperative with Wilkins. She made several important X-ray photographs of DNA crystals, through a process called X-ray diffraction crystallography, to generate information concerning DNA’s three-dimensional structure. Yet her conflict with Wilkins prevented their discovery of the structure.

Shortly thereafter, the brilliant biochemist and Nobel laureate Linus Pauling of the California Institute of Technology proposed a possible three-dimensional structure for DNA that was incorrect. Consequently, Bragg released Watson and Crick to have a second go at the structure. Armed with Franklin’s X-ray photographs and Irwin Chargaff’s discovery that the nucleotide subunits of DNA orient in definite ratios, Watson and Crick produced a three-dimensional double-helical model of DNA in March, 1953, without having performed a single experiment. Because no errors could be found in their structure, they published a paper in an April, 1953, issue of the prestigious journal Nature, thereby laying claim to the discovery.

Form and Content

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

The 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to James D. Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins for their contributions to the discovery of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the substance which is the source of genetic inheritance. The Double Helix (the title refers to the structure of the DNA molecule: a double helical chain) is Watson’s account, originally serialized in The Atlantic Monthly , of the efforts of the scientific community to solve the mystery of the DNA molecule. Although Watson supplies historical and personal background information, he concentrates on the period from the fall of 1951, when Watson, an American postdoctoral fellow, joined forces with...

(This entire section contains 632 words.)

Unlock this Study Guide Now

Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.

Get 48 Hours Free Access

Crick, an English doctoral candidate, at the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge, to April, 1953, when the two men published their theoretical model of the DNA molecule inNature. The book focuses on the personal and scientific interactions among five scientists: Watson, Crick, Linus Pauling, Wilkins, and Wilkins’ colleague—but not collaborator—Rosalind Franklin.

The book is aptly described by its subtitle. All the events are presented through Watson’s eyes as either a participant or an observer. He is the sole interpreter, whether it be of the significance of a scientific paper or the motives or feelings of those with whom he interacts. In part he relied upon his own memory, in part upon letters written to his parents on a weekly basis, which he used to help him date events. In the preface he acknowledges that some of the other participants had different memories of specific events, but that in the cases of conflicting memories he has depended upon his own recollections. He has tried to recapture his thoughts and reactions during the years between 1951 and 1953, without having his account colored or biased by historical hindsight. Even where subsequent events demonstrated that his judgments at the time were utterly wrong, Watson rejected the temptation to modify his narrative so as to appear more insightful than he actually was. He eschewed direct quotations or the re-creation of dialogue, instead utilizing indirect quotations or the summation of conversations.

Critics have had some problem fitting this book into its proper genre. Some have classified it as a scientific autobiography, although scientific autobiographies are characteristically written by scientists at the conclusion of their careers to provide overviews. Scientific autobiographies have also been typically dull recitations of events and discoveries, occasionally enlightened by the refighting of ancient priority disputes. Its candor, relatively narrow time frame, and extremely young protagonist prevent The Double Helix from fitting comfortably into this genre. Others have suggested that The Double Helix should be classified as a scientific memoir, pointing to its similarity with memoirs of nonscientists in its refusal to excise material by considerations of good taste and its inclusion of the gossip and trivialities of the subject’s life.

Watson writes for a general audience without assuming any prior knowledge on the part of the reader of the scientific issues involved or how scientific discovery takes place. He supplies sufficient information about the nature of genetics research and its history to place the discovery of Crick and Watson in context. The tone is informal, even chatty. Adding to the feeling of informality is the brevity of the chapters, each of which usually deals with one particular episode. The front matter, the twenty-nine chapters, and an epilogue total only 226 pages in the original edition, or fewer than ten pages per chapter. Chapters are generally arranged in chronological order, but some episodes are presented in flashback or as background. Supporting Watson’s text are a number of contemporary photographs of the protagonists, diagrams illustrating essential chemical, physical, or biological facts, and a foreword by Sir Lawrence Bragg, the director of the Cavendish Laboratory at the time Watson and Crick made their discovery.

Historical Context

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

While teaching at Harvard University, Watson started to gather the notes, letters, scientific data, and photographs that would eventually form the controversial bestseller, The Double Helix. This was during the mid-1960s, a time when the United States was engaged in an unpopular war in Southeast Asia. Watson's writings recounted events that took place in England during the early 1950s, a period when many European nations were still recovering from the devastating impacts of World War II. Between the end of World War II and the height of the Vietnam War, significant advancements were made in various scientific and medical fields: Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine, Christiaan Barnard performed the first human heart transplant, Frederick Sanger uncovered the molecular structure of insulin, the birth control pill was invented, and America's first commercial nuclear power plants became operational. Marshall Nirenberg's deciphering of the genetic code in the early 1960s was a direct result of Watson and Crick’s 1953 discovery of DNA's structure. This discovery revealed that the DNA molecule consisted of the chemicals adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine. The subsequent challenge was to determine how to sequence these chemicals within DNA—essentially, how to read the code Watson and Crick identified. Nirenberg was awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology for his contributions to decoding the DNA structure.

While many scientific breakthroughs in the mid-to-late twentieth century led to healthier humans and animals, more efficient energy sources, captivating space exploration, and the advent of the computer age, not all advancements were celebrated as significant achievements by the public. No area illustrates a mixed public reaction more than the developments in genetics. The "acceptable" work conducted by biologists and geneticists in the 1950s and 1960s laid the groundwork for the first attempts at genetic engineering—the modification of genetic material—in the early 1970s. This marked the start of the "cloning" era, which continues today amid ongoing global debates over the ethical concerns involved. Watson was, and remains, a leading advocate in this field.

Genetic engineering has been somewhat more favorably received when applied to fruits and vegetables. Since the discovery of DNA, scientists have worked on enhancing plants to extend the shelf life of various produce. This technique has also been utilized to boost protein levels in dairy cattle milk and decrease fat content in cattle raised for meat. In the 1950s and 1960s, scientific advancements were not as widely publicized as they are today. However, with the advent of television reaching millions of homes and the proliferation of news programs during this era, the average person gained more access to information about scientific experiments as they occurred.

This increased awareness has sometimes led to heightened public concern. Now, with the capability to replicate human genes, questions arise about who will determine which traits are desirable for cloning and how cloning practices will be managed. Both supporters and opponents of genetic engineering present compelling arguments. Considering the intense progress in genetics over the past fifty years since Watson and Crick first decoded DNA, it seems unlikely that gene research will cease. However, many scientists have expressed a commitment to monitoring issues that extend beyond the laboratory.

Literary Style

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

Setting

The Double Helix primarily takes place in England during the early 1950s. In the preface, Watson expresses his desire for the book to "capture the atmosphere of the early postwar years in England," showing the public's eagerness to rejuvenate both spirits and infrastructure following World War II. He achieves this by detailing small aspects, such as the types of wine paired with specific dinners and the discussions that occur over morning coffee or lunches featuring gooseberry pie. Watson intertwines his narrative of scientific discoveries with remarks on the films he watches, intellectual games he plays with the elite, and the enjoyment he finds in playing "Murder"—a whodunit role-playing game—in the dimly lit upstairs areas of friends' homes. He elaborates at length about Crick’s half-French wife, Odile, who "came to Cambridge and hastened [Crick’s] revolt against the stodginess of the middle classes." Watson appreciates Odile’s culinary skills and frequently spends evenings at the Crick residence, relishing good wine and engaging conversation, though he is disappointed by the couple's lack of interest in politics. He attributes their political indifference to "the war, whose grimness they now wished to forget."

World War II was a conflict where science played a more significant role than ever before. The atomic bomb introduced a unique kind of "grimness," leading to unprecedented devastation. Physicists, in particular, understood that their research could potentially cause as much harm as it could benefit if left unchecked. This accelerated the drive to expand knowledge and exert greater control over scientific research possibilities. This was the western European world that Watson entered in 1951 and aimed to depict as the backdrop of his book. It was a world filled with hope and renewed enthusiasm, yet also marked by caution and rivalry due to the recent past.

Tone

The tone of The Double Helix is quite different from what one might anticipate in a typical "science" book. Instead of being bogged down with dense, dry data, Watson’s book is approachable for a general audience, with moments of humor and an overall light-hearted tone. In a 1968 review for the Nation, critic J. Bronowski remarked that it possesses “a quality of innocence and absurdity that children have when they tell a fairy story. The style is shy and sly, bumbling and irreverent, artless and good-humored and mischievous.” Similarly, critic Elliot Fremont-Smith, in The New York Times, likens it to a gripping mystery, calling it “a thrilling book from beginning to end— delightful, often funny, vividly observant, full of suspense and mounting tension.” Such descriptions might seem unusual for scientific writing, yet they highlight why the book has been successful and controversial in both scientific and popular circles. While some critics have harshly criticized the book’s content, those focusing on its style and tone generally agree it is entertaining and lively rather than deliberately offensive.

Compare and Contrast

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

1950s: Animal scientist C. R. Henderson assists New York dairy cattle breeders in becoming global leaders in the field of applied genetics. The pivotal technique is artificial insemination, which significantly increases the number of milk-producing cows.

1960s: The Green Revolution represents a global initiative to enhance food production by developing plant varieties that respond better to specific fertilizers. This leads to greater food yields, but raises concerns about health risks and political control over which farmers can expand their crop production.

1990s: ‘‘FlavrSavr’’ tomatoes, genetically modified for extended shelf life, make their debut in American supermarkets. However, consumer interest is limited, and some express concerns about the potential health risks of these genetically engineered products.

1950s: Biologist Arthur Kornberg successfully synthesizes DNA in a laboratory setting.

1960s: Biologists combine human and mouse cells to create hybrid cells that retain only a few human chromosomes. Since any human proteins detected in these hybrid cells must be produced by genes on the remaining human chromosomes, scientists can now link specific genes to specific chromosomes.

1990s: Dolly the sheep becomes the first adult animal to be cloned. Meanwhile, researchers involved in the Human Genome Project announce the complete sequencing of DNA in chromosome 22, marking the first time a human chromosome has been fully sequenced.

Media Adaptations

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

• A shortened version of Watson and Crick's discovery regarding the DNA structure is accessible on audiocassette, narrated by Watson. This version is titled The Double Helix: The Story Behind the Discovery of DNA, and it was released by Soundelux in February 2000.

Bibliography and Further Reading

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

Sources

Amazon.com, available at www.amazon.com (accessed on November 20, 2000).

Bronowski, J., "Review," in Nation, March 18, 1968,
pp. 381–382.

Fremont-Smith, Elliot, "Review," in New York Times, February
19, 1968.

Medawar, P. B., "Review," in New York Review of Books,
March 28, 1968, pp. 3–5.

Sinsheimer, Robert L., ‘‘The Double Helix (1968),’’ in
Science and Engineering, September 1968, pp. 4–6.

U.S. News Online: Double-Teaming the Double Helix,
available at www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/980817/17dna.htm
(accessed on August 17, 1998).

Watson, James D., The Double Helix: A Personal Account of
the Discovery of the Structure of DNA
, Norton Critical
Edition, edited by Gunther S. Stent, W. W. Norton and
Company, 1980.

———, ‘‘The Double Helix Revisited,’’ available on Time.com, at http:/
/www.time.com/time/magazine/articles/0,3266,48104,
00.html (accessed on July 3, 2000).

Further Reading

Bishop, Jerry E., and Michael Waldholz, Genome: The Story
of the Most Astonishing Scientific Adventure of Our Time:
The Attempt to Map All the Genes in the Human Body
, Simon
and Schuster, 1990. This book outlines the key events contributing to the growth of genetics and biotechnology. It is written in an accessible manner and includes examples of both personal and professional hurdles encountered during scientific exploration.

Marinacci, Barbara, ed., Linus Pauling in His Own Words:
Selected Writings, Speeches, and Interviews
, Touchstone
Books, 1995.
While this book may be more suited for dedicated science students, it serves as a memoir of James Watson’s prominent rival in the quest to uncover the structure of DNA. Not as provocative as Watson’s narrative, Pauling’s compilation offers a well-rounded discussion on DNA research and other scientific fields.

Watson, James D., and John Tooze, The DNA Story: A
Documentary History of Gene Cloning
, W. H. Freeman, 1981. This book provides a captivating exploration of the history of gene cloning, presented through various media, including scientific articles, correspondence, newspaper stories, and cartoons.

Watson, James D., and others, Recombinant DNA, Scientific
American Books, 1992.

Previous

Critical Essays

Next

Teaching Guide

Loading...