Tuesday, February 28, 2006

On February 28, 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the structure of the DNA molecule. They studied Rosalind Franklin's X-ray pictures of the molecule, made sketches, built theoretical models, hit on the correct structure, and went to the pub.

The best thing about this, aside from the pub, is that only two months later, they published their discovery in the April 25, 1953 journal Nature with a one-page announcement including a simple diagram beginning with the words "We wish to suggest a structure for the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid (D.N.A.)." So unassuming. So concise.
hit counter
I wonder if the neo-christians would try to have this discovery supressed today. Or what the god-spin on it would be.