Synopses & Reviews
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.
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“A nimble biography.” Los Angeles Times Book Review
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“A fitting tribute to a…canonical figure in modern science” Publishers Weekly
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“Thoughtful. . .aptly conjures a forgotten scientific landscape. . .” New York Times Book Review
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“Matt Ridleys book reads beautifully, the science flowing along with the life, to form a unity.” Aaron Klug
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“The reader gets a strong sense of how these men lived, what they achieved and how they achieved it.” San Francisco Chronicle
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“Enjoyable…Ridley does an excellent job of escorting readers on [an] intellectual roller coaster ride.” BioScience
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“A considerably more complete and colorful portrait of Crick than has existed before.” Nicholas Wade, New York Times
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“Ridley has captured the wonder of an unparalleled scientific mind at work and at play.” Nicholas Wade, New York Times
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Praise for Eminent Lives Series: FRANCIS CRICK and CHARLES DARWIN --
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“This is a wonderful book--deeply substantive, lucid, trenchant, and witty. It tells the biggest story in modern biology.” David Quammen
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“Lucid and riveting . . . Completely captivating, a lively and deeply intriguing account of one of biologys most imaginative scientists.” Kay Redfield Jamison
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“Matt Ridleys Francis Crick perceptively and warmly recounts the extraordinary life of the 20th centurys most important biologist.” James D. Watson
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“Ridley captures Cricks audacity, brilliance and, not least, eloquence…An excellent first biography” Brenda Maddox, Sunday Times (London)
Synopsis
Between 1953 and 1966, scientist Francis Crick led a revolution in biology by discovering, quite literally, the secret of life: the genetic code. Crick, who died in 2004 at the age of 88, will be remembered as one of the most influential scientists in history, but little is known about his life outside of the laboratory. Science writer Matt Ridley, author of the national bestseller Genome, presents the most complete, in-depth portrait of Crick available today.
Ridley's comprehensive work follows Crick from his childhood in the English Midlands to 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 illuminates the life and ideas of the man who forever changed our world and how we understand it.
Matt Ridley's books have been shortlisted for six literary awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Genome. His book The Agile Gene was named best science book published in 2003 by The National Academies of Science. He is a visiting professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. He lives in Newcastle, England.
"Matt Ridley's Francis Crick perceptively and warmly recounts the extraordinary life of the 20th century's most important biologist." -- James D. Watson
--David Quammen
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)
About the Author
Matt Ridley is the author of several award-winning books, including Genome, The Agile Gene, and The Red Queen, which have sold more than 800,000 copies in twenty-seven languages worldwide. He lives in England.