Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code (Eminent Lives) - Softcover

Ridley, Matt

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061148458 ISBN 13: 9780061148453

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2009

Synopsis

Part of the acclaimed Eminent Lives series, Francis Crick is the first biography of the eminent scientist, co-discoverer of the double helix structure of DNA. Written by Matt Ridley, the award-winning author of the national bestseller Genome, Francis Crick traces his life from middle class mediocrity in the English Midlands through a lackluster education and six years designing magnetic mines for the Royal Navy to his leap into biology at the age of 31 and his enormous success, providing "a considerably more complete and colorful portrait of Crick than has existed before." (New York Times)

About this title

Review:

Praise for Eminent Lives Series: FRANCIS CRICK and CHARLES DARWIN----

"Lucid and riveting . . . Completely captivating, a lively and deeply intriguing account of one of biology's most imaginative scientists."--Kay Redfield Jamison

"A fitting tribute to a...canonical figure in modern science"--Publishers Weekly

"Matt Ridley's Francis Crick perceptively and warmly recounts the extraordinary life of the 20th century's most important biologist."--James D. Watson

"This is a wonderful book--deeply substantive, lucid, trenchant, and witty. It tells the biggest story in modern biology."--David Quammen

"Matt Ridley's book reads beautifully, the science flowing along with the life, to form a unity."--Aaron Klug

"Ridley captures Crick's audacity, brilliance and, not least, eloquence...An excellent first biography"--Brenda Maddox, Sunday Times (London)

"A considerably more complete and colorful portrait of Crick than has existed before."--Nicholas Wade, New York Times

"Ridley has captured the wonder of an unparalleled scientific mind at work and at play."--Nicholas Wade, New York Times

"Enjoyable...Ridley does an excellent job of escorting readers on [an] intellectual roller coaster ride."--BioScience

From the Back Cover:

Francis Crick--the quiet genius who led a revolution in biology by discovering, quite literally, the secret of life--will be bracketed with Galileo, Darwin, and Einstein as one of the greatest scientists of all time. In his fascinating biography of the scientific pioneer who uncovered the genetic code--the digital cipher at the heart of heredity that distinguishes living from non-living things--acclaimed bestselling science writer Matt Ridley traces Crick's life from middle-class mediocrity in the English Midlands through a lackluster education and six years designing magnetic mines for the Royal Navy to his leap into biology at the age of thirty-one and its astonishing consequences. In the process, Ridley sheds a brilliant light on the man who forever changed our world and how we understand it.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0061148458
• ISBN 13: 9780061148453
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224