Watson on 'The Double Helix': Written 'to Read Like Fiction'

"Once I had the sentence 'I never saw Francis Crick in a modest mood,' I knew that I'd be able to stick it through to the end."

That was how James D. Watson, professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, described the genesis of The Double Helix, his controversial bestseller about the discovery of the structure of the DNA molecule.

Watson, who was a co-winner of a Noble Prize in 1962 for his role in the discovery, talked about his book before about 200 people at Kirkland House last night.

He said his main reason for writing The Double Helix was to interest young people in science. "When I was young I much preferred to read fiction," he said, "So I decided to make The Double Helix read like fiction."

The book has been criticized for its candid descriptions of the author's colleagues, particularly of Francis Crick, who shared the Noble Prize for the 1953 discovery along with Watson and Maurice Wilkins.

"At that stage I really thought of people over 40 as at the end of their lives," Watson said, "and that was the right attitude to take--not too much reverence for the big boys. If they kenw what to do, they'd be doing it."

Watson said that he had originally entitled his book Honest Jim, but that the Harvard Press, which was at that time slated to publish the book, didn't like it. He then changed the title to Base Pairs, Watson said, but co-discoverer Crick wouldn't stand for that. He finally settled on The Double Helix.

Referring to the Harvard Corporation's controversial veto of the Harvard Press decision to publish his book, Watson said, "Harvard's lawyers said that Francis [Crick] might not like the book. They never came out and said that it was libelous; they just said that Crick might read it and be unhappy and sue."