James D. Watson

James Dewey Watson (born April 6, 1928) is one of the discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule. Born in Chicago, he has been fascinated by birds since he was a child due to the influence of his father. At the age of 12, he starred on the Quiz Kids, a popular radio show that challenged precocious youngsters to answer difficult questions. Thanks to the liberal policy of Robert Hutchins, he enrolled at the age of 15 at the University of Chicago. After reading Erwin Schrodinger's book What Is Life? in 1946, he changed his direction from ornithology to genetics. Watson earned a B.Sc. in Zoology in 1947.

References

• {{note|thesis}} "The properties of x-ray inactivated bacteriophage. I. Inactivation by direct effect." by J. D. Watson in Journal of Bacteriology (1950) volume 60 page 697-718. The full text of this article is available for download in PDF format.
• {{note|Judson}} See Chapter 2 of The Eighth Day of Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Biology by Horace Freeland Judson published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (1996) ISBN 0879694785.
• {{note|TMV}} "The structure of tobacco mosaic virus. I. X-ray evidence of a helical arrangement of sub-units around the longitudinal axis" by J. D. Watson in Biochim Biophys Acta. (1954) volume 13 pages 10-19. {{Entrez Pubmed|13140277}}
• {{note|helix}} Molecular structure of Nucleic Acids by James D. Watson and Francis H. Crick. Nature 171, 737–738 (1953).