Eminent Lives — FRANCIS CRICK: Discoverer of the Genetic Code - Softcover

Ridley

Softcover

ISBN 10: 000721331X ISBN 13: 9780007213313

Publisher: William Collins, 2011

Synopsis

Acclaimed author Matt Ridley traces the colourful life of the man who discovered the structure of DNA, the building blocks of life.

Building on a biographical tradition that can be traced back to Aubrey's ‘Brief Lives’, Dr Johnson's ‘Lives of the Poets’ and Lytton Strachey's ‘Eminent Victorians’, this exciting and ground-breaking new series pairs great biographers, historians and novelists with iconic subjects, the writing bristling with original and distinctive points of view.

On 28 February 1953, Francis Crick walked into the Eagle pub in Cambridge and announced that he and his American colleague James Watson ‘had found the secret of life’. In fact, they had indeed done so. That morning, Crick and Watson had worked out the structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). They had discovered its 'double helix' form, one which could replicate itself, confirming theories that it carried life's hereditary information.

Matt Ridley's life of Crick begins with his birth in 1916 at the home of a shoe factory owner, his early explosive experiments at primary school and time developing torpedoes in the Navy. After his seismic DNA discovery, which won him the Nobel Prize before he'd even gained a PhD, the scientist's later work was rarely uncontroversial. From California, he proposed that life began when micro-organisms from another planet were dropped here by a spaceship sent to Earth, and maintained that the 'human soul' was entirely explicable in terms of brain activity. Matt Ridley's entertaining account traces the colourful and entirely original work behind one of mankind's greatest discoveries and displays the life of a scientist considered of the very first rank.

About this title

Product Description:

Paperback. Pub Date :2011-06-10 Pages: 160 Language: English Publisher: Atlas Books Acclaimed author Matt Ridley traces the colourful life of the man who discovered the structure of DNA. the building blocks of life.Building on a biographical tradition that can be traced back to Aubreys Brief Lives. Dr Johnsons Lives of the Poets and Lytton Stracheys Eminent Victorians. this exciting and ground-breaking new series pairs great biographers. historians and novelists with iconic subjects. the writing bristling with original and distinctive points of view . On 28 February 1953. Francis Crick walked into the Eagle pub in Cambridge and announced that he and his American colleague James Watson had found the secret of life. In fact. they had indeed done so. That morning. Crick and Watson had worked out the structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). They had discovered its double helix ...

Review:

‘In this excellent first biography of Francis Crick, who died in 2004, the suspense is terrific...authoritative...lucid...he captures Crick's audacity, brilliance and, not least, eloquence.’ Sunday Times

‘From the pages of this biography Crick emerges as a powerful, dominating figure who ruled seminars and parties with equal ease, and Ridley, an experienced science writer, with a neat turn of phrase and a proper appreciation of brevity can be satisfied he has done justice to his subject. His book has pace, concisenness and wit...the book is a delight.’ The Observer

'Ridley explains his discoveries with wonderful clarity.' Telegraph Review

Praise for Matt Ridley:

‘What a superb writer he is, and he seems to get better and better.' Richard Dawkins, author of ‘The Selfish Gene’

About this edition

• Publisher: William Collins
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 000721331X
• ISBN 13: 9780007213313
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240