THE DOUBLE HELIX

The double helix refers to the structure of DNA, which the author uncovered, along with Francis Crick (with whom he shared the Nobel Prize) and a host of other scientists and technicians in Cambridge, England. But this classic is not a technical treatise. It's more like a detective story as the scientists piece together clues, work their way out of blind alleys and reach their goal. It doesn't take much scientific background to understand the book, but a passing acquaintance with biology, genetics or molecular physics would be helpful, especially since there are no footnotes that define technical terms. The abridgment is a little rough. The listener is left with little sense of the actual length of time it took to unravel the puzzle or even of individual portions of it. R.C.G. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 00]