Howard Markel skillfully re-creates the intense intellectual journey, and fraught personal relationships, that ultimately led to a spectacular breakthrough. But it is Rosalind Franklin—fiercely determined, relentless, and an outsider at Cambridge and the University of London in the s, as the lone Jewish woman among young male scientists—who becomes a focal point for Markel.
The Secret of Life is a story of genius and perseverance, but also a saga of cronyism, misogyny, anti-Semitism, and misconduct. A vibrant evocation of Cambridge in the s, Markel also provides colorful depictions of Watson and Crick—their competitiveness, idiosyncrasies, and youthful immaturity—and compelling portraits of Wilkins, Pauling, and most cogently, Rosalind Franklin.
The Secret of Life is a lively and sweeping narrative of this landmark discovery, one that finally gives the woman at the center of this drama her due. Search icon An illustration of a magnifying glass.
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Video Audio icon An illustration of an audio speaker. Audio Software icon An illustration of a 3. Software Images icon An illustration of two photographs. Watson and Andrew Berry. Alfred A. ISBN: What is really of great interest are the stories of how the paradigm-changing discoveries in molecular biology were made late in the previous century. The abuses of the Nazi regime seem irrelevant to the societal challenges of the DNA era. This emphasis was noted at the gala celebration of the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the double helix held earlier this year.
Yet this is what Watson himself chose to cite as the example of the fruits of his contributions. Much more compelling are the now-historic tales about the giants of the dawn of the era of molecular biology. I was hoping that Watson would more fully explicate the complex relationships among Rosalind Franklin, Maurice Wilkins, and Watson and Crick. Watson acknowledges that he saw these images before he came up with his own model.
Since Franklin died in of ovarian cancer, Watson argues that the Nobel committee would have had a hard time deciding whom to award the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine that went to Crick, Wilkins, and Watson.
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