Francis Crick - (Eminent Lives) by Matt Ridley (Paperback)

About the Book

Ridley traces Crick's life from middle-class mediocrity through his leap into biology at the age of 31 and his co-discovery of the double helix structure of DNA.

Book Synopsis

Part of the acclaimed Eminent Lives series, Francis Crick is the first biography of the eminent scientist, co-discoverer of the double helix structure of DNA. Written by Matt Ridley, the award-winning author of the national bestseller Genome, Francis Crick traces his life from middle class mediocrity in the English Midlands through a lackluster education and six years designing magnetic mines for the Royal Navy to his leap into biology at the age of 31 and his enormous success, providing "a considerably more complete and colorful portrait of Crick than has existed before." (New York Times)

From the Back Cover

Francis Crick--the quiet genius who led a revolution in biology by discovering, quite literally, the secret of life--will be bracketed with Galileo, Darwin, and Einstein as one of the greatest scientists of all time. In his fascinating biography of the scientific pioneer who uncovered the genetic code--the digital cipher at the heart of heredity that distinguishes living from non-living things--acclaimed bestselling science writer Matt Ridley traces Crick's life from middle-class mediocrity in the English Midlands through a lackluster education and six years designing magnetic mines for the Royal Navy to his leap into biology at the age of thirty-one and its astonishing consequences. In the process, Ridley sheds a brilliant light on the man who forever changed our world and how we understand it.

Review Quotes

"Matt Ridley's Francis Crick perceptively and warmly recounts the extraordinary life of the 20th century's most important biologist." -- James D. Watson

"A nimble biography." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review

"A considerably more complete and colorful portrait of Crick than has existed before." -- Nicholas Wade, New York Times

"Thoughtful. . .aptly conjures a forgotten scientific landscape. . ." -- New York Times Book Review

"Lucid and riveting . . . Completely captivating, a lively and deeply intriguing account of one of biology's most imaginative scientists." -- Kay Redfield Jamison

"Matt Ridley's book reads beautifully, the science flowing along with the life, to form a unity." -- Aaron Klug

"This is a wonderful book--deeply substantive, lucid, trenchant, and witty. It tells the biggest story in modern biology." -- David Quammen

"A fitting tribute to a...canonical figure in modern science" -- Publishers Weekly

"Ridley has captured the wonder of an unparalleled scientific mind at work and at play." -- Nicholas Wade, New York Times

Praise for Eminent Lives Series: FRANCIS CRICK and CHARLES DARWIN -- --

"The reader gets a strong sense of how these men lived, what they achieved and how they achieved it." -- San Francisco Chronicle

"Ridley captures Crick's audacity, brilliance and, not least, eloquence...An excellent first biography" -- Brenda Maddox, Sunday Times (London)

"Enjoyable...Ridley does an excellent job of escorting readers on [an] intellectual roller coaster ride." -- BioScience