James Watson
The discovery of the structure (and working mechanism) of DNA is one of my all-time favorite stories since I was a graduate biology student, and has to be one of the most amazing discoveries of the twentieth century. It’s amazing because the two main protagonists did not do any experimentation at all. Mainly, they read relevant papers (as my friend Neal Farber likes to remind me, half a year in the laboratory can save you an hour in the library), correctly interpreted other people's research, built cute three dimensional models, and put two and two together (in this case A with T and G with C). Watson's somewhat self-deprecatory demeanor is enchanting (although after over fifty years I might have expected him to give Rosalind Franklin a little of the credit she probably deserved and died without).
This great man originally wanted to be an ornithologist but ended up telling us the main secret of how life works. This film is so much fun, You might not want to read the book (The Double Helix). Read it anyway.
Thanks for the heads up - my day is enriched!
ReplyDeleteJudy
Who knew James Watson was funny?
ReplyDeleteThere are some great comments here that speak volumes:
1)"I thought there'd be a podium, so I'm a bit scared." This happens a lot with speakers. It's amazing to me how attached people can get to podiums, and how wonderful they can be when the podium disappears.
2) "Chris asked me to tell again how we found the structure of DNA, and since, you know, I follow his orders I'll do it, but it slightly bores me." When we were working with speakers for TEDxTelAviv we came across this paradox as well. Often times a speaker is invited to talk about an idea that made them noteworthy. The irony is that for us (the audience) we can't wait to hear this great idea from its originator, but for the speaker this idea may already be boring for them to speak about. (Like Watson doing his best to keep us entertained with jokes while he races through his ancient history.)
3) "... and then I hope that I'll have at least five minutes to say what makes me tick now." Yes! You can see him actually start to get excited during the the last few minutes where he's speaking about what he's really passionate about these days.
Overall the novelty of seeing such a legend as James Watson speak is a big draw to watch this video. For me I think he lost an opportunity to share something greater than just the facts of story that, as he says, he has told elsewhere.
That being said, if you've never seen him speak, or read his book, it's a great opportunity to hear about one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century by one of the actual researchers.
~ Michael