Ridley traces Crick's life from middle-class mediocrity through his leap into biology at the age of 31 and his co-discovery of the double helix structure of DNA.
Ridley traces Crick's life from middle-class mediocrity through his leap into biology at the age of 31 and his co-discovery of the double helix structure of DNA.
Francis Crick—the quiet genius who led a revolution in biology by discovering, quite literally, the secret of life—will be bracketed with Galileo, Darwin, and Einstein as one of the greatest scientists of all time. In his fascinating biography of the scientific pioneer who uncovered the genetic code—the digital cipher at the heart of heredity that distinguishes living from non-living things—acclaimed bestselling science writer Matt Ridley traces Crick's life from middle-class mediocrity in the English Midlands through a lackluster education and six years designing magnetic mines for the Royal Navy to his leap into biology at the age of thirty-one and its astonishing consequences. In the process, Ridley sheds a brilliant light on the man who forever changed our world and how we understand it.
“"Thoughtful. . .aptly conjures a forgotten scientific landscape. . ."”
Praise for Eminent Lives Series: FRANCIS CRICK and CHARLES DARWIN---- "Lucid and riveting . . . Completely captivating, a lively and deeply intriguing account of one of biology's most imaginative scientists."--Kay Redfield Jamison "Matt Ridley's Francis Crick perceptively and warmly recounts the extraordinary life of the 20th century's most important biologist."--James D. Watson "A fitting tribute to a...canonical figure in modern science"--Publishers Weekly "This is a wonderful book--deeply substantive, lucid, trenchant, and witty. It tells the biggest story in modern biology."--David Quammen "Matt Ridley's book reads beautifully, the science flowing along with the life, to form a unity."--Aaron Klug "Ridley captures Crick's audacity, brilliance and, not least, eloquence...An excellent first biography"--Brenda Maddox, Sunday Times (London) "A considerably more complete and colorful portrait of Crick than has existed before."--Nicholas Wade, New York Times "Ridley has captured the wonder of an unparalleled scientific mind at work and at play."--Nicholas Wade, New York Times "Enjoyable...Ridley does an excellent job of escorting readers on [an] intellectual roller coaster ride."--BioScience --New York Times Book Review "The reader gets a strong sense of how these men lived, what they achieved and how they achieved it."--San Francisco Chronicle "A nimble biography."--Los Angeles Times Book Review
Matt Ridley is the author of several award-winning books, including "Genome", "The Agile Gene", and "The Red Queen", which have sold more than 800,000 copies in twenty-seven languages worldwide. He lives in England.
Francis Crick--the quiet genius who led a revolution in biology by discovering, quite literally, the secret of life--will be bracketed with Galileo, Darwin, and Einstein as one of the greatest scientists of all time. In his fascinating biography of the scientific pioneer who uncovered the genetic code--the digital cipher at the heart of heredity that distinguishes living from non-living things--acclaimed bestselling science writer Matt Ridley traces Crick's life from middle-class mediocrity in the English Midlands through a lackluster education and six years designing magnetic mines for the Royal Navy to his leap into biology at the age of thirty-one and its astonishing consequences. In the process, Ridley sheds a brilliant light on the man who forever changed our world and how we understand it.
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