84 pages • 2 hours read
James D. WatsonThe Double Helix
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1968A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
Discuss the significance of personal ambition as a key driving force in scientific discovery. You should focus on The Double Helix but also reflect on the issue more broadly. You may want to considerthe way ambition intersects with other motivating forces in The Double Helix, and the negative and positive effects of ambition.
To what extent do Watson and Crick overstep the bounds of “fair play” in their work on the structure of DNA?
On Page 1, Watson says, “[n]o two people ever see the same events in exactly the same light.”. Discuss the importance of perspective in The Double Helix.
Discuss the success of The Double Helix as a literary work. You may wish to consider features such as style, plot, narrative perspective, suspense, and character portrayal.
Discuss the importance of failure in The Double Helix. You may wish to consider and compare:Watson and Crick’s initial attempt at a three-chain structure, Pauling’s failed solution, and Watson’s like-to-like structure. What goes wrong? How do people respond to these failures, and how far are they important steps towards eventual success?
Based on both your reading of The Double Helix and your broader understanding, why is Watson’s and Crick’s discovery of the structure of DNA considered to be so important?
What does The Double Helix tell us about the role of “human events” in the progress of science?
Who makes the single most important contribution to the discovery of the structure of DNA?
What impression emerges of the intellectual culture of post-war Cambridge and/or the scientific community in The Double Helix?
What does The Double Helix tell us about the gender norms and values of the time? You may wish to consider he portrayal of Rosalind Franklin, Odile Crick and Elizabeth Watson, and attitudes towards women in science.
