Published: February 2008 (All day)
'In this excellent first biography of Francis Crick, who died in
2004, the suspense is terrific! authoritative! lucid! He captures
Crick's audacity, brilliance and, not least, eloquence.'
Sunday Times
'What a superb writer he is, and he seems to get better and
better.' Richard Dawkins, author of 'The Selfish Gene'
I am frequently asked for my opinion on the speculation that
Francis Crick was on LSD when he discovered the double helix; or
that he was involved with a man named Dick Kemp in the manufacture
of LSD. These assertions were reported second hand in an article in
the Mail on Sunday by Alun Rees following Crick's death and they
have since gained a certain amount of traction on the internet.
Both stories are wrong. The true story, which I was told directly
by Crick's widow and by the man who (as his widow confirms) first
supplied the Cricks with LSD, is much less sensational. Crick was
given (not sold) LSD on several occasions from 1967 onwards by
Henry Todd, who met the Cricks through his girlfriend. Todd did
know Kemp, with whom he was eventually prosecuted, but the Cricks
did not. As for the implausible idea that the then impoverished and
conventional Crick would have had access to LSD when it was newly
invented in the early 1950s, there is simply no evidence for it at
all. Those who wish to argue that LSD helped Crick make discoveries
should note that all his major breakthroughs in molecular biology
were made before 1967.
Buy Francis
Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code
Buy it from my favourite
bookshop Aldeburgh Bookshop
Book Reviews
'Ridley...presents the science very clearly...a detailed and
more balanced record than in some earlier accounts.' - Times
Literary Supplement
'From the pages of this biography Crick emerges as a powerful,
dominating figure who ruled seminars and parties with equal ease,
and Ridley, an experienced science writer, with a neat turn of
phrase and a proper appreciation of brevity can be satisfied he has
done justice to his subject. His book has pace, concisenness and
wit!the book is a delight.' - The Observer
'Ridley explains his discoveries with wonderful clarity.'
Telegraph Review
'In this excellent first biography of Francis Crick, who died in
2004, the suspense is terrific!authoritative!lucid!he captures
Crick's audacity, brilliance and, not least, eloquence.' - Sunday
Times
"Matt Ridley's FRANCIS CRICK perceptively and warmly recounts
the extraordinary life of the twentieth century's most important
biologist." - James D. Watson
"Ridley's thoughtful book aims less to unearth new facts than to
highlight undervalued ones. He has found some new material..." -
The New York Times
"Matt Ridley's biography of Francis Crick pays due tribute to
one of the greatest scientists ever", Robin McKie, The
Guardian
"...'he was no stereotypical white-lab-coated humourless
absent-minded professor', says biographer Matt Ridley" - Bill
Thompson's "Eye on books"
"This is a wonderful book--deeply substantive, lucid, trenchant,
and witty. It tells the biggest story in modern biology." - David
Quammen
"A briskly written essential for the DNA shelf . . . Ridley's
fluency in the pertinent molecular biology is refined by his
stylistic clarity." - Booklist
