WATSON, James Dewey (1928-) and Francis Harry Compton CRICK (1916-). 'Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids'. Offprint from Nature , vol. 171, no. 4356, Supplement: Recent Scientific and Technical Books, pp. 737-741, April 25, 1953. London: Fisher, Knight & Co. Ltd., for Macmillan & Co., Limited, [1953]. 8 (210 x 139mm). 6 conjugate leaves and 1 half leaf 7, 4 text illustrations, comprising 'A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid' by Watson and Crick, 'Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids' by Wilkins, Stokes and Wilson, and 'Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate' by Franklin and Gosling. Stapled with the last leaf tipped at left edge onto proceeding page as issued. Provenance : signed by Watson, Crick, Watkins, and Gosling. AN IMPORTANT ASSOCIATION COPY, SIGNED BY WATSON, CRICK, WATKINS, AND GOSLING, OF THE FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DISCOVERY OF DNA, THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT WORK IN THE HISTORY OF THE LIFE SCIENCES. James Watson arrived in Cambridge in October 1952, breaking in the process his Merck Fellowship in biochemistry and microbiology at Cophenhagen. He joined at the Cavendish Laboratory the most eminent group of crystallographers of the day. The Laboratory was headed by the Nobel Prize winner Sir Lawrence Bragg, but in Cambridge Watson worked with Francis Crick, aided by Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin of King's College, London. Their paper, with its memorable opening 'We wish to suggest a stucture for the salt of deoxrybose nucleic acid (D.N.A.). This structure has novel features which are of considerable biological evidence', correctly interpreted the crystalline structure of D.N.A. This discovery explained how heridity messages could be encoded in a crystalline structure that was stable in the latter sense and yet allowed for both replication and mutation. Their published paper was a complete work - they did not reveal their work to the scientific community in stages - and thus its impact was all the greater. THE PUBLICATION OF THEIR JOINT PAPER IN NATURE REVOLUTIONISED BIOCHEMISTRY AND THE OTHER LIFE SCIENCES, AND PROFOUNDLY AFFECTED THE STUDY OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. Watson and Crick published four papers in the summer of 1953. The first, offered here as a signed offprint, announced their discoveries to the world. This paper is remarkably restrained in tone, and their statement regarding the implication of their work for genetics is a masterpiece of understatement: 'It has not escaped our notice that the scientific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material'. Their reticence, as Crick explained later, was the result of a compromise between the authors which recognised the need to claim priority but wishing also to avoid speculation.
WATSON, James Dewey (1928-) and Francis Harry Compton CRICK (1916-). 'Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids'. Offprint from Nature , vol. 171, no. 4356, Supplement: Recent Scientific and Technical Books, pp. 737-741, April 25, 1953. London: Fisher, Knight & Co. Ltd., for Macmillan & Co., Limited, [1953]. 8 (210 x 139mm). 6 conjugate leaves and 1 half leaf 7, 4 text illustrations, comprising 'A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid' by Watson and Crick, 'Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids' by Wilkins, Stokes and Wilson, and 'Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate' by Franklin and Gosling. Stapled with the last leaf tipped at left edge onto proceeding page as issued. Provenance : signed by Watson, Crick, Watkins, and Gosling. AN IMPORTANT ASSOCIATION COPY, SIGNED BY WATSON, CRICK, WATKINS, AND GOSLING, OF THE FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DISCOVERY OF DNA, THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT WORK IN THE HISTORY OF THE LIFE SCIENCES. James Watson arrived in Cambridge in October 1952, breaking in the process his Merck Fellowship in biochemistry and microbiology at Cophenhagen. He joined at the Cavendish Laboratory the most eminent group of crystallographers of the day. The Laboratory was headed by the Nobel Prize winner Sir Lawrence Bragg, but in Cambridge Watson worked with Francis Crick, aided by Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin of King's College, London. Their paper, with its memorable opening 'We wish to suggest a stucture for the salt of deoxrybose nucleic acid (D.N.A.). This structure has novel features which are of considerable biological evidence', correctly interpreted the crystalline structure of D.N.A. This discovery explained how heridity messages could be encoded in a crystalline structure that was stable in the latter sense and yet allowed for both replication and mutation. Their published paper was a complete work - they did not reveal their work to the scientific community in stages - and thus its impact was all the greater. THE PUBLICATION OF THEIR JOINT PAPER IN NATURE REVOLUTIONISED BIOCHEMISTRY AND THE OTHER LIFE SCIENCES, AND PROFOUNDLY AFFECTED THE STUDY OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. Watson and Crick published four papers in the summer of 1953. The first, offered here as a signed offprint, announced their discoveries to the world. This paper is remarkably restrained in tone, and their statement regarding the implication of their work for genetics is a masterpiece of understatement: 'It has not escaped our notice that the scientific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material'. Their reticence, as Crick explained later, was the result of a compromise between the authors which recognised the need to claim priority but wishing also to avoid speculation.
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg?w=400?width=1600&quality=70 "Source: Christie's")
Try LotSearch and its premium features for 7 days - without any costs!
Be notified automatically about new items in upcoming auctions.
Create an alert
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
