Crick - by Matthew Cobb (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"Knowledgeable."--Kirkus

"An enthralling biography. Clear, sharp and meticulous, Crick is the story of a mind that never stopped questioning - and how science is still trying to catch up."--Roger Highfield, author of Virtual You

"Like Crick himself, this is brilliant and inspiring. A landmark biography."--Adam Rutherford, author of Creation

"This is the biography that Crick deserves: compellingly readable, insightful, celebratory and critical as the content demands, and entirely true to the spirit of this ingenious, remarkable and sometimes infuriating man. It is hard to imagine this book ever being bettered."--Philip Ball, author of How Life Works: A User's Guide

"At last: a life of Crick that resembles the original--immensely learned, jaunty, funny, often surprisingly tender. Cobb puts the legendary mind of Francis Crick back where it belongs--in the body of a very human being."--Nathaniel Comfort, John Hopkins University

"Crick: A Mind in Motion beautifully captures the personality of Francis Crick, the way I knew him for 16 years, his incandescent intellect, his incessant striving for mechanistic explanations in terms of genes and neurons
underlying the code of life and the footprints of consciousness in the brain, always, always asking why and why not, until, literally, the day he died."--Christof Koch, author of Then I Am Myself the World

"In this thrilling biography of one of the 20th century's greatest minds, Cobb uncovers the unseen twists, relentless curiosity, and sheer audacity that shaped Francis Crick's remarkable life. This intimate portrait will inspire any reader drawn to the thrill of discovery and the power of big ideas."--David Eagleman, author of Livewired and Incognito

About the Author

Matthew Cobb is a professor emeritus at the University of Manchester He earned his PhD in psychology and genetics from the University of Sheffield. He is the author of seven books including: As Gods: A Moral History of the Genetic Age, The Idea of the Brain, and Life's Greatest Secret. He lives in England.