In 1953, two young and unknown scientists, James Watson and Francis Crick, sparked a worldwide revolution with their discovery of the molecular composition of DNA. In this collection of outspoken and topical essays, speeches and reports, Watson offers his unique insight into the advance of molecular genetics, the prospect of curing cancer over the next decade, how human genetic knowledge is likely to be used, particularly in relation to cloning and genetically modified food, as well as shedding light on his early life and career.

Autobiographical Flights; Values from a Chicago Upbringing; Growing Up in the Phage Group; Minds that Live for Science; Early Speculations and Facts about RNA templates; Bragg's Foreword to The Double Helix; Biographies: Luria, Hershey, and Pauling Recominant DNA Controversies; In Further Defense of DNA; Standing Up For Recombinant DNA; The Nobelist Versus the Film Star; The DNA Biochemical Canard Ethos of Science; Moving Towards the Clonal Man: Is This What We Want?; The Dissemination of Unpublished Information; Science and the American Scene; The Necessity for Some Academic Aloofness; Striving for Excellence; Succeeding in Science: Some Rules of Thumb War on Cancer; The Academic Community and Cancer Research; Maintaining High Quality Cancer Research in a Zero-Sum Era; The Science for Beating Down Cancer Societal Implications of the Human Genome Project; Moving on to Human DNA; Ethical Implications of the Human Genome Project; Genes and Politics; Five Days in Berlin; Good Gene, Bad Gene: What is the Right Way to Fight the Tragedy of Genetic Disease?; Viewpoint: All for the Good - Why Genetic Engineering must Soldier On Afterword: Envoi - DNA, Peace and Laughter Name Index, Subject Index

James D. Watson , President, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

`Review from previous edition James D. Watson . . . has always been a man of passion and strong views . . . His writings on the important issues of the day, prepared over a period of more than thirty years and presented in the 25 essays of this wonderful book, are only slightly less provocative than his frequently startling spontaneous remarks.' Bruce Alberts, President, National Academy of Sciences