"Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1928, Watson grew up during the Great Depression and identified with the ideals of the New Deal Democrats, who thought that government power should be used to create a fairer, healthier society. A gifted student, he entered the University of Chicago at 15 and graduated in zoology four years later. Although keen on birdwatching and ornithology, reading What Is Life? by physicist Erwin Schrödinger convinced him that genes were the key to understanding life."
"At 23, Watson joined the Medical Research Council's molecular biology research group at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, UK. He shared an office with Francis Crick and there was an immediate synergy between them. They decided to build molecular models of DNA by combining X-ray crystallographic data with what was known of DNA's chemistry. The crystallographic data came from Rosalind Franklin, Ray Gosling and Maurice Wilkins at King's College London."
James D. Watson was born in Chicago in 1928 and grew up during the Great Depression, embracing New Deal ideals. He entered the University of Chicago at 15 and earned a zoology degree four years later. Schrödinger's What Is Life? convinced him that genes were central, leading to a genetics PhD with Salvador Luria studying viruses that infect bacteria. At 23 he joined the Cavendish Laboratory, collaborated with Francis Crick, and used X-ray crystallography from Rosalind Franklin, Ray Gosling and Maurice Wilkins to build DNA models. Watson's base-pairing insight and the 1953 publication explained how genetic information is encoded. He later authored a transformative textbook, led major biology institutions, and generated controversy through contentious remarks about race, leaving a complex legacy.
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