Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Double Helix, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Research, Adventure, and the Thrill of Discovery
Scientific Collaboration, Competition, and Community
DNA and the Secret of Life
Academic Life and the University
Summary
Analysis
Maurice Wilkins introduced Watson to his X-ray studies of DNA in Naples in 1951, just before Watson met Francis Crick. Watson had just finished his PhD at Indiana University and gone to study the biochemistry of DNA with Herman Kalckar in Denmark. This was ironic, because Watson always hated chemistry—so did his doctoral advisor, the biochemist Salvador Luria, who sent him to Denmark for the DNA project.
Watson’s achievements were remarkable in part because of his age. He was just 22 when he earned his PhD and 25 when he and Crick discovered the double helix structure. Like Crick, he clearly saw DNA’s importance and wanted to learn more about it. The opportunity to study it was thrilling, at least at first. In fact, after finishing his PhD, he got the opportunity to go on a literal adventure as well as a scientific one. His pathway to Copenhagen again depended on connections and relationships in the scientific community, and it shows the immense opportunities that academic funding can create for the scholars who receive it.
Themes
Watson didn’t find Herman Kalckar very interesting, and he ended up studying bacterial viruses (or phages) with the scientist Ole Maaløe instead. He felt bad about abandoning Kalckar, but he renewed his fellowship for another year anyway. He felt less guilty after Kalckar started going through a divorce and paying much less attention to his lab. The next spring, Watson’s research with Maaløe was going well, so he decided to follow Kalckar to Naples for a couple months and try to learn a bit of chemistry.
Again, Watson struggled to clarify his ethical obligations as a young scientist: was it better to break the terms of his fellowship to pursue more interesting research, or to endure an awful job in order to fulfill the project that was given to him? His decision to pursue his curiosity seemed to pay off, in large part because his fellowship gave him significant freedom to spend his time as he wished. In turn, this freedom allowed him to pursue his interests wherever they led. Still, it’s clear that he didn’t find his work in Copenhagen satisfying enough.
Themes
