The Double Helix Free Audiobook Download

3 quotes from The Double Helix

• "A molecule of DNA is not like a book; it doesn't have a story."
• "We had the structure of the DNA, but we lacked a proper understanding of its mechanism."
• "No scientific discovery is perfect, or finished; it merely paves the way for future investigation."

Author: James D. Watson

James D. Watson, born in Chicago in 1928, is a renowned molecular biologist celebrated for co-discovering the double helix structure of DNA at the age of 25, a groundbreaking achievement that earned him the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962 alongside Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins. His fascination with genetics was sparked by his childhood interest in bird-watching. Watson completed his B.Sc. in zoology at the University of Chicago in 1947 and earned his Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1950. He collaborated with Crick and Wilkins at the Cavendish Laboratory in England from 1951 to 1953, during which they uncovered the DNA structure. Joining the Harvard Biology Department in 1956, he later served as a full professor and directed Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory from 1968, becoming its president in 1994. Watson was instrumental in launching the Human Genome Project in 1989 as director of the National Center for Human Genome Research at the NIH. An outspoken critic of religious dogma, he advocates for human advancement through understanding science. His bestselling book, *The Double Helix*, published in 1968, provides a vivid account of the discovery that transformed molecular biology.