James D. Watson, Co-Discoverer of the Structure of DNA, Is Dead At 97 (nytimes.com)
- Reference: 0179999308
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/11/07/2314257/james-d-watson-co-discoverer-of-the-structure-of-dna-is-dead-at-97
- Source link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/science/james-watson-dead.html
> [2]James D. Watson , who entered the pantheon of science at age 25 when he joined in the discovery of the structure of DNA, one of the most momentous breakthroughs in the history of science, [3]died on Thursday in East Northport, N.Y., on Long Island. He was 97. His death, in a hospice, was confirmed on Friday by his son Duncan, who said Dr. Watson was transferred to the hospice from a hospital this week after being treated there for an infection.
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> Dr. Watson's role in decoding DNA, the genetic blueprint for life, would have been enough to establish him as one of the most important scientists of the 20th century. But he cemented that fame by leading the ambitious [4]Human Genome Project and writing perhaps the [5]most celebrated memoir in science.
[1] https://slashdot.org/~ole_timer
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Watson
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/science/james-watson-dead.html
[4] https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/educational-resources/fact-sheets/human-genome-project
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Double_Helix
Rosalind Franklin discovered it (Score:5, Interesting)
Crick and Watson were on the wrong track until Franklin's personal nemesis, a man named Wilkins proved them wrong by stealing Franklin's work and showing it to Crick and Watson.
Watson instantly realized DNA was Helix in 1953 after seeing Franklin's photograph taken in 1952.
Which was an amazing insight considering Franklin had already called it a Helix in 1951 - before she even had the photo in question.
Looking at other people's work and realizing they were right does not make you a discoverer. It makes you a thief.
Crick and Watson did figure out the specifics of the helical structure, but that was more of a proof of Franklin's discovery than anything else.
Re:Rosalind Franklin discovered it (Score:4, Interesting)
That makes a nice story for obvious culture-war reasons, but the reality is less movie-worthy. The photo was taken by Gosling and the significance
recognised by Watkins. Franklin might possibly have shared the Nobel if the was still alive in 1962, when it was awarded. But she was not.
> According to a later account by Raymond Gosling, although Photo 51 was an exceptionally clear diffraction pattern of the "B" form of DNA, Franklin was more interested in solving the diffraction pattern of the "A" form of DNA, so she put Gosling's Photo 51 to the side.
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_51
Re: (Score:2)
> the significance recognised by Watkins.
I mean Watson , dammit!
Re: (Score:2)
[1]I'll just leave this right here. [wikipedia.org]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stigler's_law_of_eponymy
Re: (Score:2)
Exactly! Rosalind took the picture and Watson/Crick used basic math (derived by Bragg, and Linus Pauling) to determine the structure. They basically did what anyone in the art would have done. It required no flash of insight.
Re: (Score:1)
Amazing considering she didn't take the photograph OR manage to figure out the structure herself.
Re: (Score:1)
He didn't 'steal' anything and she did not identify the structure at all, let alone a year prior.
Another hero gone (Score:4, Interesting)
Another hero bites the dust, today we're just supposed to look up to sportsball rapists, narcissist 'celebrities' and psychopath executives. Yeah, the "Good Old Days" weren't really that good, but at least we had people like Albert Einstein, Neil Armstrong and Al Kaline around.
Re: Another hero gone (Score:1)
I'm sure most of them were sociopaths too. They just had the good sense to hide it better and it was easier to suppress the flow of information pre electronic media.
MLK had groupies of whom he availed himself.
FDR was as out of it as Biden by the end and he still went for a 4th term.
Lincoln declared martial law.
Washington didn't just own slaves but he also cultivated a personality cult during the early days of the Republic.
On it goes.
The Double Helix (Score:3)
The Double Helix is one of the only assigned classroom textbooks I eagerly read from cover to cover.
RIP.
Re: Cancelled for saying the truth (Score:3, Insightful)
Watson made assertions that he could not support or prove. As a scientist, he refused to put up or shut up, and lost a great deal of his reputation out of his own stubborness and philosophically anti-science behavior.
Goes to show that nobody is perfect, and even with great genes you can be a useless tit.
Re: (Score:3)
> Watson made assertions that he could not support or prove.
Support yes, prove no.
You could say that about the double helix. Nobel prizes are typically awarded many years after the event because they are awarded for ideas, and have to wait for others to prove them. You don't get a Nobel by waiting for proof.
Watson took some well-founded observations on racial and gender differences, (some observations more scientific than others), and sided heavily on genetics in the nature vs nurture debate.
Consider in the US how Jews have made massively d
Re: Cancelled for saying the truth (Score:1)
The problem prominent and/or mildly successful scientists of all stripes run into is that they begin to confuse their imagination for a source of truth. Having been rewarded with success in their careers for having done the so on their way up, it is almost reasonable to conclude their imagination *is* a direct line to God, Truth, or Whatever.
Feynman had a chapter in one of his books about this phenomenon. Several actually, but I'm thinking not of the famous Cargo Cult Science speech but of his experiments w
Re: (Score:1)
Yes and you are right.