My Dear Watson

James Watson's The Double Helix is a classic--a first-hand account of the discovery of the structure of DNA, it's more an adventure story than a science book. (Some feel this is a criticism. It's also been criticized for getting things wrong, but why let the facts get in the way of a good tale?)

That book came out in 1968, and now Watson has a new one (okay, published last year) about his life, including those amazing years in the early 50s, entitled Avoid Boring People (note the double meaning). He goes through each phase (and phage) of his past, ending his chapters with the lessons he learned that he's now passing on to prospective scientists.

While the personal history is interesting (if not quite as stirring as in The Double Helix), I don't think the lessons are too helpful. As advice, they're mostly vague and cliched ("Keep your intellectual curiosity much broader than your thesis objective," "Teaching can make your mind move on to big problems." "Stay in close contact with your intellectual competitors"). Some of the rest is actually too particular, such as you should buy, not rent, a suit of tails when you win a Nobel Prize.

Also, the writing is often stiff. In fact, the best stuff is when he shows his irritation, such as his contempt for the old, hidebound Harvard biology department, or his complaints about his low pay. (Watson, who's been a big name in biology most of his life, seems to be a prickly character.) Nevertheless, I'd recommend it--but not until after you've read The Double Helix.