DNA: The Secret of Life.

4to. XIV 446, (2) pp. Inscribed by the author on half title. With numerous illustrations in color and black and white. Original black boards and dust jacket. First edition, inscribed by Nobel laureate James D. Watson, "for Dave & Fanny from Jim" on the half-title. - The single most important advance in biology since Darwin's theory, the discovery of the structure of DNA was the product of the research of James Watson, Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin, and Maurice Wilkins. For this monumental work, Crick, Watson, and Wilkins shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology. Franklin, whose contributions were often downplayed, had passed away four year earlier at the age of 37, likely due to X-ray exposure from her work. - The story of the discovery and its aftermath, told here, is an unlikely and interesting glimpse into the process of scientific advancement wherein "victory fell to an unlikely quartet of scientists in England who didn't work as a team, often weren't on speaking terms, and were for the most part novices in the field" (Bryson, p. 487). Told from the perspective of the American wunderkind James Watson, this memoir traces one of the greatest scientific upheavals of the eventful 20th century. - In excellent condition. - Cf. Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything (Crown, 2004), p. 487f.