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Francis Crick—the quiet genius who led a revolution in biology by discovering, quite literally, the secret of life—will be bracketed with Galileo, Darwin, and Einstein as one of the greatest scientists of all time. In his fascinating biography of the scientific pioneer who uncovered the genetic code—the digital cipher at the heart of heredity that distinguishes living from non-living things—acclaimed bestselling science writer Matt Ridley traces Crick's life from middle-class mediocrity in the English Midlands through a lackluster education and six years designing magnetic mines for the Royal Navy to his leap into biology at the age of thirty-one and its astonishing consequences. In the process, Ridley sheds a brilliant light on the man who forever changed our world and how we understand it.
Francis Crick—the quiet genius who led a revolution in biology by discovering, quite literally, the secret of life—will be bracketed with Galileo, Darwin, and Einstein as one of the greatest scientists of all time. In his fascinating biography of the scientific pioneer who uncovered the genetic code—the digital cipher at the heart of heredity that distinguishes living from non-living things—acclaimed bestselling science writer Matt Ridley traces Crick's life from middle-class mediocrity in the English Midlands through a lackluster education and six years designing magnetic mines for the Royal Navy to his leap into biology at the age of thirty-one and its astonishing consequences. In the process, Ridley sheds a brilliant light on the man who forever changed our world and how we understand it.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
About the Author-
Matt Ridley's books have sold over a million copies, been translated into 31 languages and won several awards. His books include The Red Queen, Genome, The Rational Optimist and The Evolution of Everything. His book on How Innovation Works was published in 2020, and Viral: the Search for the Origin of Covid-19, co-authored with Alina Chan, was published in 2021. He sat in the House of Lords between 2013 and 2021 and served on the science and technology select committee and the artificial intelligence select committee. He was founding chairman of the International Centre for Life in Newcastle. He created the Mind and Matter column in the Wall Street Journal in 2010, and was a columnist for the Times 2013-2018. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He lives in Northumberland.
Reviews-
March 20, 2006 Francis Crick (1916–2004) is a natural addition to the Eminent Lives series. Best known for his codiscovery of the structure of DNA alongside James Watson, Crick is a canonical figure in modern science; award-winning British science writer Ridley (The Agile Gene ) is an expert and distinguished author of popular books on biological science. But one wishes the strictures of this series gave Ridley more space in which to work; the prose is crisp and forthright, but he barely has enough room to recount the basic contours of Crick's voracious scientific career, leaving the reader with but a few fleeting glimpses of the man's deeper character. Readers of Watson's The Double Helix who pick up this book looking for a similarly idiosyncratic portrait of a scientific life will be disappointed, but one might argue that this spare, straightforward volume is a more fitting tribute to a scientist who lived a relatively modest public life while striving to understand the basic workings of life and consciousness.
James D. Watson
"Matt Ridley's Francis Crick perceptively and warmly recounts the extraordinary life of the 20th century's most important biologist." — James D. Watson
"A nimble biography." — Los Angeles Times Book Review
"A considerably more complete and colorful portrait of Crick than has existed before." — Nicholas Wade, New York Times
"Thoughtful. . .aptly conjures a forgotten scientific landscape. . ." — New York Times Book Review
"Lucid and riveting . . . Completely captivating, a lively and deeply intriguing account of one of biology's most imaginative scientists." — Kay Redfield Jamison
"Matt Ridley's book reads beautifully, the science flowing along with the life, to form a unity." — Aaron Klug
"This is a wonderful book—deeply substantive, lucid, trenchant, and witty. It tells the biggest story in modern biology." — David Quammen
"A fitting tribute to a...canonical figure in modern science" — Publishers Weekly
"Ridley has captured the wonder of an unparalleled scientific mind at work and at play." — Nicholas Wade, New York Times
Praise for Eminent Lives Series: FRANCIS CRICK and CHARLES DARWIN — —
"The reader gets a strong sense of how these men lived, what they achieved and how they achieved it." — San Francisco Chronicle
"Ridley captures Crick's audacity, brilliance and, not least, eloquence...An excellent first biography" — Brenda Maddox, Sunday Times (London)
"Enjoyable...Ridley does an excellent job of escorting readers on [an] intellectual roller coaster ride." — BioScience
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