This is one of the best books I've read!

The Double Helix, by James Watson, Mass Market Paperback, 1968.

    “I have never seen Francis Crick in a modest mood.”  So begins this account of James Watson, who along with Crick discovered the structure of DNA and won the Nobel Prize for Biology in 1962.  Watson describes the intrigue, yes there is intrigue, catty fights among colleagues, and unstoppable ambition.  Watson tells of his life at Cambridge during this time, his nights out with friends, his trips to the continent, relationships among friends and colleagues, but in the end, all these stories point to the discovery of the structure of DNA. 

    Don't be intimidated by the subject.  The language is simplified and understandable.  Remember cell structure and cell division?  Good!  That’s all you need.  Any discussion of chemistry is explained well enough for the average reader.  Watson was a physicist using his knowledge of biology for this task, not a chemist.  And physics isn't needed either.

     The story is mesmerizing.  The relationships he describes are by turns interesting, silly, and upsetting.  He speaks of a female colleague, Rosalind Franklin, with derision throughout the text.  Watson and Crick could not have discovered the structure when they did had it not been for her work.  It’s pretty safe to say Franklin wouldn’t have discovered the structure of DNA either because she was off on another track, but his treatment of her is appalling.  Yet when you finish the book, you'll discover that Watson is capable of kindness towards her as well.