DNA Pioneer: James Watson and the Double Helix.

BALDWIN, Joyce [James D. Watson and Francis Crick].

$3,800.00

Item Number: 145786

New York: Walker and Company, 1994.

First edition of this riveting work on the legendary scientist James D. Watson. Octavo, original boards. Boldly signed by James Watson and Francis Crick on the half-title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Ron Monteleone. Rare and desirable signed by Watson and Crick.

In its drama, Watson's life has rivaled the discovery of the structure of DNA. So intent on his research was this awkward, bumbling scholar that he would climb a drainpipe to sneak into a lab at night. Watson had a knack for selecting problems that would yield important scientific results, but did he pilfer? Did Rosalind Franklin originate crucial material? If so, why was she not included in the Nobel Prize? Baldwin, who had exceptional access to Watson and his family, conveys the elegance of science (the ``structure [of DNA] was too pretty not to be true''), describes diverse influences (birding, Arrowsmith, movies), and even gives advice (go to a college where others are brighter than you, to test your mettle). Voluminous detail on what, exactly, provided a lifetime's worth of inspiration broaden an intriguing picture of this intrepid competitor.