A “thrilling biography of one of the 20th century’s greatest minds” (David Eagleman): Francis Crick, codiscoverer of the structure of DNA, pioneering neuroscientist, and audacious genius
What are the moments that make a life? In Francis Crick’s, the decisive moment came in 1951, when he first met James Watson. Their ensuing discovery of the structure of DNA made Crick world-famous. But neither that chance meeting nor that discovery made Crick who he was. As Matthew Cobb shows in Crick, it is another chance encounter, with a line from the writing of Beat poet Michael McClure, that reveals Crick’s character: “THIS IS THE POWERFUL KNOWLEDGE,” it shouted. Crick, having read it, would keep it with him for the rest of his life, a token of his desire to solve the riddles of existence. John Keats once accused scientists of merely wanting to “unweave a rainbow,” but it was an irrepressible, Romantic urge to wonder that defined Crick, as much as a desire to find the basis of life in DNA and the workings of our minds. For the first time ever, Cobb presents the full portrait of Crick, a scientist and a man: his triumphs and failings, insights and oversights. Crick set out to find the powerful knowledge. Almost miraculously, he did.Author: Matthew Cobb
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 11/11/2025
Pages: 608
Size: 9.50h x 6.25w x 1.37d
ISBN: 9781541602885
Language: English
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