James Dewey Watson (1928-)

James Dewey Watson (1928-) James Watson was born in Chicago in 1928. From an early age he was bright and inquisitive and wasn’t satisfied with simple answers. As a child he spent a lot of time birdwatching with his father.

He began studying for an undergraduate degree in Zoology at University in Chicago at the age of 15. He did well in courses that interested him, like biology and zoology, and not as well in other courses. At this time his ambition was to go to graduate school and study to become the curator of ornithology at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. He went to graduate school at Indiana University and received a doctorate in 1950. While he was studying, he became very interested in genetics. In September 1950 he moved to Copenhagen to begin studying the effect of DNA on viruses.

From Copenhagen he moved to Cambridge to work at the Cavendish Laboratory to learn more about how X-rays were used to study large molecules. At the Cavendish Laboratory he shared an office with Francis Crick, a Ph.D. student who was also interested in the structure of DNA. Although both were supposed to be working on other projects, they continued to study DNA. In 1953 they built the first accurate model of the structure of DNA. In 1962, James Watson shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins who, with Rosalind Franklin, provided the data on which the structure was based. Following the discovery of the structure of DNA, James Watson continued to work in molecular genetics. He left Cambridge in 1956 and went to work in the Biology department at Harvard University. He became Director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in 1968. He wrote The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA, which was first published in 1968. This book was the first to describe how scientists work, and has never been out of print. He has played a significant role in many important areas, from fighting diseases like cancer to the Human Genome Project and he is now President of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. One of his major interests is education and he has written many biology text books. He is actively exploring new approaches to education through projects being developed at the DNA Learning Center, the educational arm of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. One of his other major interests is tennis, which he began playing regularly at Indiana University, and he still tries to play every day.

© University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, 2003.

Francis Harry Compton Crick (1916-) Francis Crick was born in a small town near Northampton, England. As a child, he was very inquisitive and he loved to read all kinds of books. His favourite books were ones about science. The science books inspired him to do experiments at home in his kitchen. His interest in science continued and he went on to study physics at University College London. Unfortunately the physics he learned in class was already out of date. He overcame this by continuing to teach himself at home, by reading more books and doing more experiments. His studies were interrupted by World War II. During the war he worked for the Admiralty, mostly designing and improving mines. After the war he continued to work at the Admiralty, but he knew he did not want to design weapons for the rest of his life. The problem was that he was not sure what he did want to do. He liked reading, thinking, and talking about the new discoveries being made in biology. In the end, he decided that he wanted to study biology in more detail. He visited several labs and scientists to help him decide exactly where he wanted to work and exactly what he wanted to study. He finally settled at Strangeways Laboratory in Cambridge, where he worked on the effects of magnetism on cells. In 1947, he moved to the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge to study proteins. He talked louder and faster than anyone else and was interested in all the experiments going on around him, not just his own study of proteins. Unfortunately his loud laugh would often annoy Professor Bragg, his supervisor! Francis Crick was very interested in how genetic information was communicated, and believed that DNA could be the key. When James Watson arrived in Cambridge in 1951 they became friends immediately. They began working together to discover the structure of DNA. In 1953 they built the first accurate model of the structure of DNA. Their model showed that the structure of DNA is a double helix, like a twisted ladder. In 1962, Francis Crick shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with James Watson and Maurice Wilkins who, with Rosalind Franklin, provided the data on which the structure was based. Even after the discovery of the structure of DNA, there were still questions about how DNA stored and used information. Francis Crick continued to study DNA to try and figure out how it helps to build molecules. In 1961, Francis Crick and Sydney Brenner showed how RNA is used to read the information stored in DNA. For most of his career, Francis Crick worked for the Medical Research Council in Cambridge. In 1976, he moved to the Salk Institute in California, and began studying how the brain develops. In 1988, he wrote about his experiences in What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discovery. He is generally described as being very bright and having a dry, British sense of humor. He swims every day to keep healthy and still loves to talk about science.


Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins (1916-)

Maurice Wilkins was born in Pongaroa, New Zealand, in 1916, and moved to England when he was six years old. He believes that he got his love of exploration and adventure during his early years in New Zealand. These traits have proved to be useful in his career as a scientist. He studied physics as an undergraduate at St. John's college in Cambridge. He graduated from Cambridge in 1938. He went to work with John Randall at Birmingham University on improving the radar systems used during World War II. Some of the work he did then is still used in radar systems today.

In 1943, the physics department at Birmingham University, including Maurice Wilkins, moved to Berkeley, California to work on the Manhattan Project. At the time, this project to design and build an atomic bomb was all part of the war effort. However, after the devastating effects of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Maurice Wilkins became and continues to be against the use of nuclear weapons.

After the war, Maurice Wilkins became a physics lecturer at St. Andrews' University, where he was reunited with John Randall. John Randall wanted to use physics to study biological problems, and was offered a full professorship at King's College in London. He accepted the job and set up the Medical Research Council Biophysics Research Unit, with Maurice Wilkins as one of his members of staff.

At King’s College, London, Maurice Wilkins studied biological molecules like DNA and viruses. He used lots of different methods and machines. Eventually he began using Xrays to make images of DNA molecules. The X-ray diffraction images produced by him and Rosalind Franklin led to the discovery of the structure of DNA by James Watson and Francis Crick. In 1962, Maurice Wilkins shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with James Watson and Francis Crick.

Maurice Wilkins is still teaching (part time) at King's College, London. He was made a Companion of the British Empire in 1962 and has won other awards and prizes for his work. He collects sculptures and is fond of gardening.


Rosalind Elsie Franklin (1920-1958) Rosalind Franklin was born in London, England. Her family was prosperous and very involved in social and public events. Her father wanted to be a scientist, but his education was cut short by World War I and he became a teacher instead. Rosalind Franklin went to St. Paul’s Girls’ School, which was one of the very few places that taught physics and chemistry to girls at that time. She was extremely intelligent and by the age of 15 she had decided that she wanted to be a scientist. Her father actively discouraged her interest in science because it was very difficult for women to have such a career. However, she came to Cambridge University in 1938 to study chemistry. When she graduated from Cambridge, Rosalind Franklin spent a year in R.G.W. Norrish's laboratory, and then became a scientist at the British Coal Utilization Research Association (CURA). CURA was a young organization and there were not many rules or regulations on the way research had to be done. Rosalind Franklin could work fairly independently at CURA, which suited her very well. She worked for CURA until 1947, studying the physical structure of coal. After spending some years in Paris, France, learning how to use X-rays to study materials, Rosalind Franklin returned to England. In 1951, she was offered a job at King's College in London. Her new job was to use the things she had learnt in Paris to set up and improve the X-ray crystallography unit at King's College. Maurice Wilkins was already using X-ray crystallography at King's College, London, to try to solve the structure of DNA. Rosalind Franklin arrived while Maurice Wilkins was away. On his return, he assumed that she had been hired to be his assistant. It was a bad start to a relationship that never got any better. Working with a student, Raymond Gosling, Rosalind Franklin was able to get two sets of good quality images of crystallized DNA fibers. From these images she figured out the basic size and shape of DNA strands. At the same time, James Watson and Francis Crick were working at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge trying to discover the structure of DNA. James Watson saw Rosalind Franklin present her findings at a meeting in King's College, London. Unfortunately, he did not pay close attention and so was not able to fully describe the lecture or the results to Francis Crick. Rosalind Franklin did not know James Watson and Francis Crick as well as Maurice Wilkins did and never truly worked with them. Some time later, Maurice Wilkins showed James Watson and Francis Crick the X-ray images that Rosalind Franklin had made. The images confirmed the 3-D structure that James Watson and Francis Crick had suggested for DNA. In 1953, both Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin announced the results of their X-ray work at the same time as James Watson and Francis Crick announced their model of the structure of DNA. Rosalind Franklin left King’s College, London, in 1953 and went to work in the Birkbeck laboratory, studying viruses. She continued to work until a few weeks before her death from cancer in 1958. In 1962, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins for solving the structure of DNA. Unfortunately, the Nobel committee does not give posthumous prizes. © University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, 2003.

Linus Carl Pauling (1901-1994)

Linus Pauling is generally recognised as the greatest chemist of the 20th century. He is the only person ever to receive two unshared Nobel Prizes: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1954) and The Nobel Peace Prize (1962). Linus Pauling was born in Portland, Oregon, on February 28, 1901. When he was nine, his father died, leaving Linus, his two younger sisters and their mother to provide for themselves. For many years Linus argued with his mother because he wanted to pursue his education, but she wanted him to leave school and get a job to support the family. He did not leave school but he did find many ways to make money such as delivering milk, running film projectors, and working in a shipyard. In 1917 Linus Pauling began studying chemical engineering at Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University) in Corvallis, Oregon. In his first year there he sailed through his exams, even though he was working over 100 hours a month to support himself and his family. He was drawn to the challenge of how and why particular atoms form bonds with each other to create molecules with unique structures. In 1925 he received a Ph.D. in chemistry and mathematical physics from California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He then came to Europe to study with physicists who were exploring the implications of quantum mechanics for atomic structure. In this revolutionary new field he found a physical and mathematical framework for his own future theories about molecular structure and chemical properties. In 1927 he returned to Caltech and continued his intensive research on the formation of chemical bonds between atoms in molecules and crystals. To study the materials he was interested in he used X-ray diffraction and electron diffraction, a technique he took to the United States from Europe. His classic book The Nature of the Chemical Bond, first published in 1939, is frequently cited as the most influential scientific book of the 20th century. Over the seven decades of his scientific career, his research interests were amazingly diverse. He made important discoveries in many different fields: physical, structural, analytical, inorganic, and organic chemistry, as well as biochemistry. He used theoretical physics, particularly quantum mechanics, in his investigations of atomic and molecular structure and chemical bonding. He also studied atomic structures and bonding of metals and minerals. In both theoretical and applied medicine he made important discoveries in genetic diseases, hematology, immunology, brain function and psychiatry, molecular evolution, nutritional therapy, diagnostic technology, statistical epidemiology, and biomedicine. His interest in DNA in the early 1950s spurred Francis Crick and James Watson into working quickly to win the race to discover the structure of DNA. Even though he lost the race to discover the structure of DNA, he is also often considered the founding father of molecular biology, which has transformed the biological sciences and medicine and provided the base for biotechnology. Many of his discoveries and inventions were expanded upon and used profitably in industry by others. Although in later years he was primarily involved in biomedical research, in 1992 he was awarded one of his last patents for a new way of making superconductive materials. © University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, 2003.

Linus Carl Pauling (1901-1994) For many years Linus Pauling was probably the most visible, vocal, and accessible American scientist, resulting from his love of communicating. He was an expert at explaining difficult medical and scientific information in simple terms that were easy to understand. Much of his work combined the dedication and knowledge of the scientist with a deep commitment to humanitarianism that reflected his own ethos of the "minimization of suffering".

A model of the structure of the alpha helix, which Linus Pauling found by using laws of structural chemistry and building models of possible structures based on a small amount of data from X-ray diffraction images.

Linus Pauling was never reluctant to inspire or enter into controversy by expressing unorthodox scientific ideas, taking a strong moral position, or rousing the public to some worthy cause. He often urged scientists to get involved in politics and society. He campaigned relentlessly against testing nuclear weapons. On the same day (10th October 1963) that the limited test ban treaty signed by the United States, Great Britain, and the U.S.S.R. went into effect, it was announced that Linus Pauling would be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1962. A key member of the selection committee in Norway commented later that the test ban would not have happened without Linus Pauling's campaigning activities. The test ban has spared innumerable people from suffering from cancer and genetic damage.

Linus Pauling went on to co-found the nonprofit biomedical research organization that now bears his name. The Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine was established to conduct research and education based on his belief that nutrition could prevent, ameliorate or cure many diseases, slow the aging process, and alleviate suffering. He gained many admirers among the public because of the knowledgeable yet clear way he spoke about the use of nutrients as means to achieve health, prolong life, and provide inexpensive, readily available, and nontoxic alternatives to drugs. As with his outspoken campaigning against testing of nuclear weapons, pressure from critics did not stop him from maintaining his beliefs. He used the ongoing interest in him to promote his ideas, particularly the benefits of vitamin C. He wrote numerous articles and books about science, peace, and health, including Vitamin C and the Common Cold, Cancer and Vitamin C (with Ewan Cameron, M.D.), and How to Live Longer and Feel Better. Many people today know Linus Pauling more for his advocacy of vitamin C than for his work on the chemical bond or for world peace. Linus Pauling died on August 19, 1994, aged 93, at his ranch near Big Sur, on the California coast. The assets of the Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine were used to establish the Linus Pauling Institute (LPI) as a research institute at Oregon State University in 1996. LPI continues to function as a tribute to the great scientist and humanitarian, investigating the function and role of food in maintaining human health and preventing and treating disease, and advancing knowledge in areas which were of interest to Linus Pauling through research and education. © University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, 2003.

William Lawrence Bragg (1890-1971) William Lawrence Bragg was born in Adelaide, Australia, on 31st March 1890. He was an impressionable boy and showed an early interest in science. His father, William Henry Bragg, was Professor of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Adelaide. Shortly after starting school aged 5, William Lawrence Bragg fell from his tricycle and broke his arm. His father had recently read about Röntgen's experiments in Europe and used the newly discovered X-rays to examine the broken arm. This is the first recorded surgical use of X-rays in Australia. William Lawrence Bragg was a very able student. In 1904, aged 15, he went to Adelaide University to study mathematics, chemistry and physics. He graduated in 1908, aged 18. In the same year his father accepted a job at Leeds University, and brought the family back to England. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge in the autumn of 1909. He received a major scholarship in mathematics, despite taking the exam while in bed with pneumonia. After initially excelling in mathematics, he transferred to the physics course in the later years of his studies, and graduated in 1911. William Lawrence Bragg is most famous for his law on the diffraction of X-rays by crystals. Bragg’s law makes it possible to calculate the positions of the atoms within a crystal from the way in which an X-ray beam is diffracted by the crystal lattice. He made this discovery in 1912, during his first year as a research student in Cambridge. He discussed his ideas with his father, who developed the X-ray spectrometer in Leeds. This tool allowed many different types of crystals to be analysed. The collaboration between father and son led many people to believe that the father had initiated the research, a fact that upset the son. William Lawrence Bragg’s research work was interrupted by both World War I and World War II. During both wars he worked on sound ranging methods for locating enemy guns. In autumn 1915, his brother Robert was killed. At about the same time William Lawrence Bragg received the news that he had become the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics, aged 25. He was knighted in 1941. After World War II, he returned to Cambridge, splitting the Cavendish Laboratory into research groups. He believed that ‘the ideal research unit is one of six to twelve scientists and a few assistants'. In 1948 William Lawrence Bragg became interested in the structure of proteins. Although he played no direct part in the 1953 discovery of the structure of DNA, James Watson admits that the X-ray method that Bragg developed forty years before was at the heart of this profound insight into the nature of life itself. In April 1953 William Lawrence Bragg accepted the job of Resident Professor at the Royal Institution in London. He proposed that the Royal Institution should perform some form of public service, and suggested series of lectures to show experiments to schoolchildren. This idea was met with an enthusiastic response, and by 1965 20,000 schoolchildren were attending these lectures each year. He worked at the Royal Institution until his retirement in September 1966. William Lawrence Bragg's hobbies included painting, literature and a life-long interest in gardening. He received both the Copley Medal and the Royal Medal of the Royal Society, and in 1967 was made a Companion of Honour by the Queen. He died at a hospital near his home at Waldringfield on 1st July 1971. © University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, 2003.

John Cowdery Kendrew (1917-1997) John Kendrew was born in Oxford on 24th March, 1917. He attended the Dragon School in Oxford (1923-1930) and then Clifton College in Bristol (1930-1936), where he was inspired by an outstanding chemistry teacher. He came to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1936 and graduated in Chemistry in 1939. John Kendrew spent the first few months of the war studying reactions in the Department of Physical Chemistry at Cambridge. He then worked for the Air Ministry Research Establishment (later Telecommunication Research Establishment) developing radar, and went on to do operational research for the Royal Air Force, working in Coastal Command, the Middle East, and South East Asia (where he was Scientific Adviser to the Allied Air Commander-in-Chief). During his time in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) he met John Desmond Bernal and they spent time discussing X-ray diffraction by proteins. He decided that he would like to work at the Cavendish Laboratory studying proteins when the war was over. He returned to Cambridge in 1946 and began studying proteins with Max Perutz at the Cavendish Laboratory, under the direction of Sir William Lawrence Bragg. He began by studying haemoglobin from sheep, and went on to study myoglobin from horses, diving mammals and birds. He also developed new techniques in X-ray crystallography. John Kendrew shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1962 with Max Perutz for their discoveries of the structures of myoglobin and haemoglobin, and the development of the new technique they used to make these discoveries. He was also made Companion of the British Empire in 1962, and knighted in 1974.

John Kendrew with his model of myoglobin in 1959. Photograph taken by Max Perutz.

Max Perutz described John Kendrew as “outstandingly able, resourceful, meticulous, brilliantly organised, knowledgeable, hard worker and a stimulating, companion with wide interests in science, literature, music and the arts.”

John Kendrew and Max Perutz were the first two members of the Medical Research Council Unit for Work on Molecular Structure of Biological Systems, which was created at the Cavendish Laboratory in 1947. The Unit is now incorporated in the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) on Hills Road in Cambridge, along with other groups working on similar problems that were previously scattered around Cambridge. John Kendrew was Deputy Director of the LMB from its opening in 1962 until 1974. John Kendrew was also a talented diplomat. He spoke fluent German, French and Italian and was a devoted European. He was the main advocate for the creation of the European Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Heidelberg, and became its first director in 1974. This great laboratory stands as testament to his skills both as a scientist and as a diplomat. He died in August 1997 in Cambridge aged 80. © University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, 2003.

Max Ferdinand Perutz (1914-2002)

Max Perutz was born in Vienna, Austria on May 19th, 1914. Both his parents came from families of textile makers that had become rich by introducing mechanical spinning and weaving into the Austrian Monarchy in the 19th century. He went to a grammar school called the Theresianum in Vienna. His parents suggested that he should study law in preparation for entering the family business, but he was inspired to study chemistry by one of his teachers. He easily persuaded his parents to let him follow his own interest. Max Perutz began studying chemistry at Vienna University in 1932. He did not enjoy some parts of the course, like “inorganic analysis". However, he was very interested in other parts, like organic chemistry, and especially by organic biochemistry. He decided that he wanted to come to Cambridge to study more organic biochemistry and work for his Ph.D. thesis. He came to the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge to work with John Desmond Bernal in 1936, with financial support from his father. He has stayed working in Cambridge for the rest of his career After Hitler's invasion of Austria and Czechoslovakia, Max Perutz’s parents became refugees, and his own sources of money were soon exhausted. Fortunately, he was appointed research assistant to Sir Lawrence Bragg from January 1st, 1939, paid for by the Rockefeller Foundation. His work was interrupted several more times for various reasons during the war. His career became more stable in 1945, when he was given an Imperial Chemical Industries Research Fellowship. Then, in October 1947, he was made head of the newly created Medical Research Council Unit for Molecular Biology. The only other member of staff when the Unit opened was John Kendrew. The Unit is now incorporated in the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) on Hills Road in Cambridge, along with other groups working on similar problems that were previously scattered around Cambridge. In 1962 he was made Chairman of the LMB, which now houses over 400 people. Max Perutz’s interest in organic biochemistry led him to study biological molecules using X-ray diffraction. In 1953, shortly after the discovery of the structure of DNA, he realised that attaching a single large atom (e.g. Mercury) to a molecule would change the X-ray diffraction pattern obtained from the crystal, making it possible to completely solve the structure of that molecule. He and John Kendrew used this doping technique to discover the structures of haemoglobin and myoglobin. Max Perutz shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1962 with John Kendrew for this work. He was also made Companion of the British Empire in 1962. Following his “retirement” in 1979 he continued to work at the LMB almost every day. He continued to study haemoglobin to help develop useful drugs for cancer treatments. He also studied other biological molecules to try and help develop treatments for Huntington's disease. Max Perutz was a keen mountaineer, and his other interests included walking, skiing and gardening. He died of cancer on 6th February 2002. © University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, 2003.