The Double Helix

Watson's racial politics aside, and taking into account that Watson did not give any credit to Rosalind Franklin, who was at least as important to the “discovery “ process as either Watson himself or his (male) colleague Francis Crick, this is a useful - if partial - book for understanding one aspect of 20th century genetic science. Subsequent developments and writing about these development in the realm of genetics and genomics help to frame this work and point up Watson's limitations and his misdirected race and gender biases. It's a relatively quick read, although given Watsons' recent ill-conceived statements about race-based intelligence and other wrongheaded ideas, you may want to hold your nose while digesting.

Incidentally, the stars-based rating system is totally unhelpful for a book like this. I hate the racist vitriol Watson spews and his blatant sexism, but the book itself is helpful as a starting point for learning about DNA. 3 stars seems like a difficult thing to sign in the circumstances, and I understand the objections for those who disagree. I think reading this as a companion to Brenda Maddox's “Rosalind Franklin: Dark Lady of DNA,” and/or Rachel Ignotofsky's “Women in Science: 50 Pioneers who Changed the World” can help to ease the strain and broaden one's understanding of what discover actually looks like in science, and who is involved.