A ROCKHAMPTON man is hoping to give overdue recognition to the scientists who helped discover DNA.
Professor Gareth Williams’ latest book, Unravelling the double helix: The lost heroes of DNA, will show that Watson and Crick were far from the only two involved.
The book will instead consider the roles played by a host of other scientists.
“It’s a story I thought I knew,” said Gareth. “Everybody assumes that it was Crick and Watson.
“They were handed all the bits of the puzzle on a plate.
“All these other people deserve to be celebrated.”
As a medical student Gareth was a fan of James Watson’s The Double Helix and credits it with inspiring young people to take up science.
A conversation with a family friend however suggested there was more to the story than the one told in that book.
“It was only years later when I got interested in the history of science that the conversation came back into my mind,” said Gareth..
A book launch is being held in the University of Bristol’s Tyndall Lecture Theatre at 6pm on May 22.
Gareth will be talking about the book to Sir Mark Walport.
Tickets are available at
eventbrite.com.
A literary dinner is also being held at Ronnies of Thornbury on May 31.
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