THE EIGHTH DAY OF CREATION Makers of the Revolution in Biology

703 Pages·2013·62.34 MB·English

by  Horace Judson

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THE

EIGHTH DAY

OF CREATION

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Makers of the Revolution

in Biology

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COMMEMORATIVE EDITION
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HORACE FREELAND JUDSON
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COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY PRESS
~ Cold Spring Harbor, New York • www.cshlpress.org
THE
EIGHTH DAY
OF CREATION
Makers of the Revolution in Biology
COMMEMORATIVE EDITION
© 1996 by Horace Freeland Judson
All rights reserved
© 2011 Guardian News & Media Ltd. Horace Freeland Judson obituary
© 2013 Olivia Judson. Growing Up with The Eighth Day: A Reminiscence
© 2013 Matthew Meselson. Preface to the Commemorative Edition
© 2011 Mark Ptashne. Horace Judson (1931-2011)
Published in 2013 by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, New York
Printed in the United States of America
Cover Designer Ed Atkeson/Berg Design
Front cover (paperback edition): Background image is a photograph of Leonardo da Vinci's
Vitruvian man drawing (Getty Images/Image Bank/Garry Gay).
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Judson, Horace Freeland.
The eighth day of creation : makers of the revolution in
biology / Horace Freeland Judson. -­ Expanded ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-879694-78-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Molecular biology--History. 1. Title.
QH506.]83 1995
574.8'8'09--dc20 95-45151
CIP
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of spe­
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Contents

Reminiscences, ix

Foreword to the Commemorative Edition, xi

Horace Freeland Judson Obituary, xiii

Growing Up with The Eighth Day: A Reminiscence, xv

Preface to the Commemorative Edition, xix

Horace Judson (1931-2011), xxi

Preface to the expanded edition, xxiii

Foreword to the expanded edition, xxvii

Foreword to the first edition, xxxi

I <- DNA
The Functions of the Structure: The elucidation of the structure of
deoxyribonucleic acid, the genetic material
1 "He was a very remarkable fellow. Even more odd then, than later." 3

2 "DNA, you know, is Midas' gold. Everybody who touches it goes mad." 51

3 "Then they ask you, 'What is the significance ofDNAfor mankind, Dr. Watson?1II 125

EXHIBITS
"Molecular Structure of Nucleic Adds: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Add,"

by J. D. Watson and F. H. C. Crick. Nature, 171 (25 April 1953), pages 737-738 170

"Genetical Implications of the Structure of Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid," by J.
D. Watson and F. H. C. Crick. Nature, 171 (30 May 1953): 964-967 171

INTERLUDE
On the State ofMolecular Biology Early in the 1970s
4 On T. H. Morgan's deviation and the secret of life 177

vii
viii Contents
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II .)
RNA For
The Functions of the Structure: The breaking of the genetic code, Ho
the discovery of the messenger Gre
5 "The number of the beast 233
Pre
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6 "My mind was, that a dogma was an idea for which there was

no reasonable evidence. You see? I" 287

7 "The gene was something in the minds of people as inaccessible as

the material of the galaxies. 343

n
8 "He wasn't a member of the club." 433

III .:.
PROTEIN
Structure and Function:

The solution of how protein molecules work

9 "As always, I was driven on by wild expectations.!! 475

10 !II have discovered the second secret of life. 545

II
CONCLUSION, 1978

"Always the same impasse" 579

EPILOGUE
"We can put duck and orange DNA together­

with a probability of one." 591

AFTERWORD I

In Defense of Rosalind Franklin:

The myth of the wronged heroine 619

AFTERWORD II

What Did Erwin Chargaff Contribute? 631

AFTERWORD III

Dawn of The Eighth Day 639

Notes 645

Index 701
Reminiscences
~-------------- ~
Foreword to the Commemorative Edition, xi

netic code,

Horace Freeland Judson Obituary, xiii

Growing Up with TIle Eighth Dny:A Reminiscence, xv

Preface to the Commemorative Edition, xix

was Horace Judson (1931-2011), xxi

'sIbll' as
Horace Freeland JL1dson
ix