Inspiring science : Jim Watson and the age of DNA / edited by John R. Inglis, Joseph Sambrook, Jan A. Witkowski ; with a foreword by Matt Ridley.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Inglis, J. R. (John R.)

Sambrook, Joseph

Witkowski, J. A. (Jan Anthony), 1947-

Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Watson, James D., 1928-2025.

Watson, James D.

Watson, James D., 1928-.

Molecular biologists--United States--Biography.

Molecular biologists.

United States.

DNA.

Genre:

Biographies.

Festschriften.

Physical Description:

xxxi, 503 pages : illustrations ; 27 cm

Place of Publication:

Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, [2003]

Summary:

For James D. Watson, the year 2003 was momentous: The 50th anniversary of the discovery, with Francis Crick, of the DNA double helix; the 35th anniversary of the publication of his best-selling memoir of the discovery, The Double Helix; the 35th anniversary of his appointment as Director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, an institution he molded into a research and education center of international renown and prestige: and the year in which the sequencing of the human genome was completed, a project of unprecedented international effort and coordination that Watson got off the ground and sustained during its first, critical years. This book gives voice to 43 of these individuals--people of distinction who have worked with Watson as a scientist, educator, author, administrator, and government official. Their essays cover much of his scientific life and, taken together, create a portrait of a complex man whose originality and force of will have produced extraordinary achievements.

Contents:

James D. Watson's Life and Work: A Timeline xxi

Section I Origins 1

Introduction: Student Days 3

Phage Days in Indiana / Renato Dulbecco 5

Quiz Kids / Gunther S. Stent 9

Some Early Recollections of Jim Watson / Seymour Benzer 15

Reprint: The Properties of X-ray-inactivated Bacteriophage. I. Inactivation by Direct Effect / James Dewey Watson 19

Section II Cambridge 43

Introduction: Talking and Thinking 45

Jim's Cool Reception among the British Geneticists / Avrion Mitchison 49

Recollections of Jim Watson / Naomi Mitchison 55

Our Work on Virus Structure / Francis H.C. Crick 57

One Day in the Cavendish (April 1, 1953) / Gerald Roland Pomerat 65

Jim and Syd / Sydney Brenner 67

A Letter to Jim, January 14, 2002 / Max F. Perutz 71

Monday Morning Quarterback / Elof Carlson 75

"The Night before Crickmas" / Rollin Hotchkiss 77

Reprint: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid / J.D. Watson, F.H.C. Crick 79

Reprint: Genetical Implications of the Structure of Deoxyribonucleic Acid / J.D. Watson, F.H.C. Crick 83

Reprint: The Complementary Structure of Deoxyribonucleic Acid / F.H.C. Crick, J.D. Watson 87

1953 Symposium 107

Introduction: A Day in June 109

Memories of the 1953 Symposium / Robert L. Sinsheimer, Julius Marmur, Charles Yanofsky, Louis Siminovitch, Frank Fenner, Roy J. Britten, Howard Green, Theodore T. Puck, Waclaw Szybalski, Joseph S. Gots, Hillary Koprowski 110

Symposium on "Viruses" / The Long-Islander Article 116

Letter to Max Delbruck / James D. Watson 117

Reprint: The Structure of DNA / J.D. Watson, F.H.C. Crick 121

Nobel Banquet Speech / James D. Watson 133

Section III Career Scientist 137

Introduction: Caltech, Cambridge, and Harvard 139

Remembering Delbruck / James D. Watson 143

Does RNA Form a Double Helix? / Alexander Rich 145

Flowers and Phage / Joan Steitz 159

On the Edge: My Time in Jim Watson's Lab / Benno Muller-Hill 167

When Ribosomes Were King / Alfred Tissieres 173

It Smells Right / Lionel V. Crawford 177

Excerpt from Naturalist / Edward O. Wilson 183

Growing Up Around Jim / Jeffrey H. Miller 189

Seems Simple, Very Hard to Do / Mark Ptashne 199

Watson at Harvard (1956-1976) / Paul Doty 203

Reprint: Structure of Small Viruses / F.H.C. Crick, J.D. Watson 211

Reprint: Unstable Ribonucleic Acid Revealed by Pulse Labelling of Escherichia coli / F. Gros, H. Hiatt, W. Gilbert, C.G. Kurland, R.W. Risebrough, J.D. Watson 217

Section IV Cold Spring Harbor 225

Introduction: An Emotional Attachment 227

Cold Spring Harbor 1958-1968: The Years between Demerec and Watson / John Cairns 231

Life with Jim / Norton D. Zinder 243

CSHL in the Sixties: A View from the Trenches / Ann Skalka 257

Reprint: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Director's Report, 1989 / James D. Watson 263

Jim as a Mentor, 1971-1974 / Phillip A. Sharp 273

From Development of Yeast Cells to Human Brain Hemispheres / Amar J.S. Klar 277

Big Shoes to Fill, with the Laces Untied / Bruce Stillman 285

Just Jim / Michael Wigler 293

Milestones and Mentoring: How Jim Watson Influenced a Scientific Career / Douglas Hanahan 301

CSHL in Transition / Raymond F. Gesteland 315

Cold Spring Harbor and Recombinant DNA / Thomas Maniatis 321

Reprint: Origin of Concatemeric T7 DNA / J.D. Watson 329

Jim and the Board: Behind the Scenes / Bayard Clarkson 337

Vision, Innovation, Breadth, and Strength / David L. Luke III 345

Portraits: Robertson, Pulling, and Grace / James D. Watson 349

A Morning on the Porch / Jim Eisenman 353

An Architect at the Lab: Some Personal Recollections / William Grover 357

Section V Genomes 363

Introduction: Managing the Genome 365

Dr. Watson Goes to Washington / Bradie Metheny 369

Jim Watson and the Human Genome Project / James B. Wyngaarden 377

The Colossus of Codes / Robert Cook-Deegan 387

Jim and the Japanese Human Genome Project / Kenichi Matsubara 395

Climbing the Ladder of Life: James D. Watson and the ELSI Years / Nancy Wexler 403

Section VI Education 413

Introduction: Communicating Science 415

The Pied Piper at Harvard / David Botstein 417

There Is More Yet to Come / Arnold J. Levine 423

What I Have Learned from Jim / Bruce M. Alberts 429

On Drawing Molecules / Keith Roberts 435

Education by the Sea Shore / Jan Witkowski, John Inglis 443.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 477-481).

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

0879696982

OCLC:

52471626