Today in Technology History

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February 28

It was exactly fifty years ago -- on February 28, 1953 -- that James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the double helix shape of DNA. We'll write more about their work and its importance in the coming months, but today we're going to discuss just one aspect of the Watson and Crick story: the race to be first.

Watson and Crick weren't the only scientists trying to figure out the shape of the DNA molecule. Their most serious competition came from Linus Pauling, a world-famous American chemist who had won a Nobel Prize for chemistry in the 1950s. Coincidentally, today is also the anniversary of Pauling's birth (February 28, 1901), so we thought we would quote a few passages about the race against Pauling from James Watson's book, The Double Helix:

"...Cal Tech's fabulous chemist Linus Pauling ... who had just turned fifty, was bound to try for the most important of all scientific prizes. There was no doubt that he was interested. Our first principles told us that Pauling could not be the greatest of all chemists without realizing that DNA was the most golden of all molecules. ... Within a few days after my arrival [at Cambridge], we knew what to do: imitate Linus Pauling and beat him at his own game."

Pauling suggested a possible shape for the DNA molecule in January 1953, but it looked clearly wrong: "When Francis [Crick] was amazed equally by Pauling's unorthodox chemistry, I began to breathe slower. By then I knew we were still in the game. Neither of us, however, had the slightest clue to the steps that had led Linus to his blunder. If a student had made a similar mistake, he would be thought unfit to benefit from Cal Tech's chemistry faculty. ... The blooper was too unbelievable to keep secret for more than a few minutes." That night, Watson and Crick drank "a toast to the Pauling failure."

Unlike Pauling's suggested shape of DNA, the Watson and Crick double helix did a good job of fitting the evidence. When Pauling heard of their success, his "reaction was one of genuine thrill," and he soon conceded that Watson and Crick had won the race.

By the way, when Watson and Crick were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962 for their DNA discovery, Pauling had no reason to feel jealous: he also got a Nobel that year, the Peace Prize.

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