Double Helix

One of the processes and methods I found was when Watson said Franklins X-ray patterns are getting better and better. Watson described them as getting more beautiful. You could see it as someone cooking, they start to get better at it after practice. Another analogy could be playing the piano, in the beginning you are not very good and you do not know much, but later on after you practice you start to get better. As the X-ray patterns kept improving, it helped Watson and Crick create the first DNA model. It helped them because the details of the X-ray got better so Watson and Crick was able to examine the hard to see stuff with ease.

Also through the X-ray patterns it showed that the structure of DNA was helical. Watson was the one to see it was helical. This showed the cooperation of scientists. The other method I found was when Watson and Crick immediately knew that Paulings model was wrong and they did not tell Pauling.

The problem Pauling had was that it was simply impossible because the hydrogen bonds that formed would have to attach to a phosphate group and they can not do that because the hydrogen atoms should have dissociated.

In my opinion I thought it was really smart of Watson and Crick to not tell Pauling because that gave them much more time to make the first DNA model. When they found it was wrong, they knew they were right back in this race. This showed the competitive sides of the scientists. The fact that Watson and Crick did not tell Pauling just to discover it first is kind of selfish, but it was sort of a competition. Character Sketch: James Watson was a biologists. He is mostly known for discovering the structure of DNA with Francis Crick.

Watson was awarded a Nobel prize in psychology. Watson occupation was at the University of Cambridge. There he met his friend and future collaborator Francis Crick. Watson was working at Harvard University from 1956 to 1976. In 1968 Watson was a director of Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory. He tremendously expanded the level of funding and research. Watson also associated with the National Institutes of Health. He then helped them with the Human Genome Project. Special Themes.

There were 4 scientists that contributed to the discovery of the structure of DNA, there names were Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin and James Watson. They all somehow made a contribution, but some contributed more then the other. The contribution of Franklin and Wiklins to the discovery of the structure of DNA is discounted for. Because of Franklins and Wlkins X-ray diffraction photos Watson and Crick were able to find out that the structure is helical. Which obviously then lead to the amazing encounter of the structure of DNA.

Now let us talk about Watson and Crick, now there 2 took most of the credit. Usually when people talk about the discovery of the structure of DNA, they talk about Watson and Crick. These 2 put their theories, models and the X-ray photos. 2. The cooperation between the 4 scientists were very important. If there was no communication between the scientists, there would not have been a discovery on the structure of DNA. If there was no cooperation then the scientists would have not gone far on the discovery.

From time to time they needed each others help or data such as, theories, X-ray photos, models and sketches. Cooperation was one thing between these scientists but another key thing was competition. While I was reading this book, it sounded as if these scientists were really competitive. An example is when Linus Pauling made a structure of DNA, his son showed Watson and Crick. And when they saw it, they instantly knew Pauling was wrong. So Watson and Crick decided not not to tell Pauling, so they could have more time to win the race to the structure of DNA.

I do have one more example of competition it is about how Watson looked at Rosalind Franklins X-ray photos, Watson knew that the structure of DNA was helical. Then Watson and Crick discovered the structure of DNA. Reflection: The Double Helix is about how a few scientists had a race to discover the first DNA model. The scientists that won that race were James Watson and Francis Crick. There were a few surprises that got me through out the book. One of them was that when Watson and Crick decided to not tell Pauling his model was wrong and impossible.

That surprised me because I thought Pauling had it and he was gonna discover it first and the fact they did not tell him it sounds kind of selfish of them. Another surprise was that none of the scientists did not give much credit to Franklin that sort of surprised because it was really selfish of the other scientists. The epilogue was huge surprise. Watson finally gave some credit to Rosy. They said that after many years they realized how hard it was for a woman to be appreciated as scientist. Watson said that he had a negative impression on her, but he said in the epilogue that Rosy’s work was excellent.