| Suggested Summer Reading
(Summaries are from the Fairfax County Public Library website) The double helix : a personal account of the discovery of the structure of DNA; text, commentary, reviews, original papers Watson, James D., 1928- Local Dewey call num: 572.86 W 1980 Summary Since its publication in 1968, 'The Double Helix' has given over a million readers a rare and exciting look at one highly significant piece of scientific research--Watson and Crick's race to discover the molecular structure of the gene. In this critical edition, Watson's lively and irreverent account is placed in historical perspective by Gunther Stent's introduction and by retrospective views from two major figures in the adventure, Francis Crick and Linus Pauling, and by Rosalind Franklin's last student, Aaron Klug. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc. Ever since Darwin : reflections in natural history Gould, Stephen Jay, 1941-2002. Local Dewey call num: 576.8 G 1977 Summary Reissued in a larger format, this popular anthology offers an introduction to the wonders and depths of evolutionary biology. "A remarkable achievement by any measure . . . One is hard pressed to single out past writers who could wear the sobriquet of natural history essayist with such distinction".--Chicago Tribune. Illustrations. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc. Rosalind Franklin : the dark lady of DNA Maddox, Brenda. Local Dewey call num: B FRANKLIN 2002 Summary In March 1953, Maurice Wilkins of King's College, London, announced the departure of his obstructive colleague Rosalind Franklin to rival Cavendish Laboratory scientist Francis Crick. But it was too late. Franklin's unpublished data and crucial photograph of DNA had already been seen by her competitors at the Cambridge University lab. With the aid of these, plus their own knowledge, Watson and Crick discovered the structure of the molecule that genes are composed of -- DNA, the secret of life. Five years later, at the age of thirty-seven, after more brilliant research under J. D. Bernal at Birkbeck College, Rosalind died of ovarian cancer. In 1962, Wilkins, Crick and Watson were awarded the Nobel Prize for their elucidation of DNA's structure. Franklin's part was forgotten until she was caricatured in Watson's book The Double Helix. In this full and balanced biography, Brenda Maddox has been given unique access to Franklin's personal correspondence and has interviewed all the principal scientists involved, including Crick, Watson and Wilkins. This is a powerful story, told by one of the finest biographers, of a remarkably single-minded, forthright and tempestuous young woman who, at the age of fifteen, decided she was going to be a scientist, but who was airbrushed out of the greatest scientific discovery of the twentieth century. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc. Silent spring Carson, Rachel, 1907-1964. Local Dewey call num: 363.7384 C 2002 Summary First published by Houghton Mifflin in 1962, Silent Spring alerted a large audience to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides, spurring revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. #160;"Silent Spring became a runaway bestseller, with international reverberations . . . [It is] well crafted, fearless and succinct . . . Even if she had not inspired a generation of activists, Carson would prevail as one of the greatest nature writers in American letters" (Peter Matthiessen, for #160;Time"s 100 Most Influential People of the Century).This fortieth anniversary edition celebrates Rachel Carson"s watershed book with a new introduction by the author and activist Terry Tempest Williams and a new afterword by the acclaimed Rachel Carson biographer Linda Lear, who tells the story of Carson"s courageous defense of her truths in the face of ruthless assault from the chemical industry in the year following the publication of Silent Spring and before her untimely death in 1964. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc. Polio : an American story Oshinsky, David M., 1944- Local Dewey call num: 616.835 O 2005 Summary All who lived in the early 1950s remember the fear of polio and the elation felt when a successful vaccine was found. Now David Oshinsky tells the gripping story of the polio terror and of the intense effort to find a cure, from the March of Dimes to the discovery of the Salk and Sabin vaccines-and beyond. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc. |
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