A review by jake_jo
The Double Helix by James D. Watson

challenging informative fast-paced

3.5

This book was an interesting peek into how Cambridge scientists worked and lived in the 50s, but it’s also a shame of how sexist and chauvinistic Watson himself was. He’s a disgrace to the scientific community and the fact that his extreme prejudice against women was brushed aside because of “his” work on the double helix is a stain on science. However I’m torn because he still decided to publish his actual thoughts on “Rosy” and had a some what halfhearted apology about his words towards her, the book falls flat is considering her as one of the rightful scientists that helped discover the double helix. I mean there’s even a section when he steals her ideas from a lecture where he writes instead how he focused on how she’d look cuter if she fixed her outfits and didn’t wear glasses. Yuck