The Path to the Double Helix

The Discovery of DNA

Robert Olby

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9780486681177
• eBook ISBN: 9780486166599
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Biology
• Index: Biological Sciences

The 1953 discovery by James Watson and Francis Crick of the molecular structure of DNA ranks among the most dramatic events in the history of science. In this lively, perceptive, and scholarly study, a noted historian of science provides the first in-depth account of this milestone's achievement.
Combining scientific and historical approaches, the narrative vividly recaptures the excitement of the conceptualization and evolution of ideas that led to the discovery of the genetic "secret of life." The story unfolds along several major lines: long-chain macromolecules; nucleic acids; bacterial transformations; the intellectual evolutions of physicists, chemists, and biologists; and the cross-pollination of scientific disciplines that unlocked the structural secrets of DNA. Francis Crick provides an illuminating Foreword for this abundantly illustrated and thought-provoking retelling of a great scientific detective story.

Index

NOTE (1994): For the Dover Edition the Postscript has been indexed, and that index has been integrated with the original one. In addition, death dates have been added (except where, after a reasonable effort, the information could not be found) to the entries for those people who have died since the original edition was published in 1974. A number of corrections have also been made in the original index.

Abbé, E. (1840–1905), 39

Abir-Am, P., 445

Achromatin hypothesis, 102

Adair, G. S., (1896–1979), 17, 264

Adenine hydrochloride, structure of, 356, 392–393

Advisory Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, 42

Albrecht, G., 278

Alexander, J., 17

Alfert, M., 210

Alkaptonuria, 126 ff.

Allison, V. W., 170, 171

Alloway, J. L., 182 ff., 199

Alpha helix, 278 ff.

Altenburg, E., 159

Ambronn, H. (1856–1927), 23

Ambrose, E. J., 282, 283

American Chemical Society, 197

Amide bond, 273, 277 ff.

Anderson, E. S., 297

Anderson, T. F., 303, 304, 317

Andrewes, Sir F. W. (1859–1932), 169

Anschütz, L., 378

Anthocyanins, 133 ff.

Appleton, Sir E. V., 329

Arkwright, J. A., 170, 178

Arrowsmith, M., 298

Association of Scientific Workers, 261

Astbury, W. T. (1898–1961), crystallographic significance of Svedberg’s multiple law, 13; early life, 47; accepts Leeds job, 44; his comparative approach, 48; studies wool diffraction pattern, 51 ff.; expands his research programme, 55; his response to the cyclol theory, 56; model for DNA, 65 ff.; protein-nucleic acid identity distance, 67 ff.; effect of the War, 68; visits America, 59; his models criticized, 62 ff.; DNA as a “negative”, 98; paper at Edinburgh congress, 113, 114 ff.; on effect of Second World War, 119; polypeptide chain duplication, 121; protein-virus anal...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Frontispiece
• Foreword by Francis Crick
• Preface
• Note on References to Source Material
• Content
• List of Plates
• Introduction
• Note to the Introduction (1994)
• Section I From Colloidal Particles to Long-Chain Molecules: Bergmann, Staudinger, Svedberg, Polanyi, Mark, Astbury
• Section II Nucleic Acids and the Nature of the Hereditary Material: Levene, Caspersson, Garrod, Muller, Darlington, Stanley
• Section III Bacterial Transformation, its Nature and Implications: Griffith, Avery, Boivin, Vendrely, Chargaff, Wyatt
• Section IV Intellectual Migrations: Delbrück, Schrödinger, Bernal, Perutz, Pauling, Watson and Crick
• Section V Hunting for the Helix: Wilkins, Gosling, Furberg, Franklin, Pauling, Watson and Crick
• Postscript (1994)
• Bibliography
• Index
• Back Cover