James D. Watson, Ph.D. (b. 1928). James Dewey Watson is one of the discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule. Born in Chicago, he enrolled at the age of 15, earned a B.Sc. in Zoology at the University of Chicago in 1947 and a Ph.D. in Zoology at Indiana University at Bloomington in 1950 before heading to Copenhagen for postdoctoral work.

In 1952, he started at Cavendish Laboratory, where he met Francis Crick. Building on the X-ray diffraction research of Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins, they together deduced the double helix structure of DNA, which they published in the journal Nature on April 25, 1953. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery in 1962.

In 1968 Watson wrote The Double Helix, one of the Modern Library's 100 best non-fiction books. The account is the sometimes painful story of not only the discovery of DNA, but the personalities, conflicts and controversy surrounding their work.This offering is a Scribner republication of the Watson classic. It was republished in 1996.

The Double Helix changed the way the public viewed scientists and the way they work. In the same way, Watson's first textbook, The Molecular Biology of the Gene set a new standard for textbooks, particularly through the use of concept heads - brief declarative subheadings. Its style has been emulated by almost all succeeding textbooks. His next great success was Molecular Biology of the Cell although here his role was more of coordinator of an outstanding group of scientist-writers. His third textbook was Recombinant DNA which used the ways in which genetic engineering has brought us so much new information about how organisms function. All the textbooks are still in print.

In 1988, Watson's achievement and success led to his appointment as the Head of the Human Genome Project at the National Institutes of Health, a position he held until 1992.

This book represents arguably the most important biological discovery of the last century and has been equated in importance with the work of Darwin and Newton.

The book is in good condition and the dust jacket is intact. The book appears to be unread. The book is signed by Francis Crick one of the codiscoverers of the structure of DNA alkong with Watson and Maurice Wilkins. Price:$OLD

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