Last year when I was in The Introduction to the History of Science this was one of my required readings. Unfortunately, a the time I was extremely disinterested in reading it so I hadn't picked it up until the end of November. Needless to say, it was a fantastic read.
I had never done biology in high school and I'm never really be that interested in it. I'm more of a physics person. When I started reading The Double Helix I was really unsure about whether I'd like it or whether it would be worth reading. I found James Watson's account of the discovery of DNA quite amusing. He's a good writing and fairly funny. One of the major criticisms of the book; however, is that he is rather sexist, which I understand to a point. James Watson is sexist and he admits to it in his epilogue where he apologizes, but one this that he is not given credit for is the fact that he wrote this novel and didn't leave out the part where he did think that one of the people involved in the story wasn't as component in her work because she was emotional which he attributed to the fact that she is a women. As it turned out, he wouldn't have been able to do what he did without her and he admits that he was wrong to assume such things. He gave an accurate account of his part in the discovery of DNA; he could have left that bit out, but he included it and I appreciated it.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading The Double Helix. It wouldn't be something that I would have thought to read. I give it 8 dinner parties out of 10 and highly recommend it to anyone with any interest in science.
I had never done biology in high school and I'm never really be that interested in it. I'm more of a physics person. When I started reading The Double Helix I was really unsure about whether I'd like it or whether it would be worth reading. I found James Watson's account of the discovery of DNA quite amusing. He's a good writing and fairly funny. One of the major criticisms of the book; however, is that he is rather sexist, which I understand to a point. James Watson is sexist and he admits to it in his epilogue where he apologizes, but one this that he is not given credit for is the fact that he wrote this novel and didn't leave out the part where he did think that one of the people involved in the story wasn't as component in her work because she was emotional which he attributed to the fact that she is a women. As it turned out, he wouldn't have been able to do what he did without her and he admits that he was wrong to assume such things. He gave an accurate account of his part in the discovery of DNA; he could have left that bit out, but he included it and I appreciated it.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading The Double Helix. It wouldn't be something that I would have thought to read. I give it 8 dinner parties out of 10 and highly recommend it to anyone with any interest in science.
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