Immediately following the revolutionary discovery of the structure of DNA by James D. Watson and Francis Crick in 1953, the world of molecular biology was caught up in a gold rush. The goal: to uncover the secrets of life that the newly elucidated molecule promised to reveal. Genes, Girls, and Gamow is James Watson's report on the amazing aftermath of the DNA breakthrough, picking up where his now-classic memoir, The Double Helix, left off.

Here are the collaborations and collisions of giants, not only of Watson and Crick themselves but also of coutless others, including Linus Pauling (the greatest chemist of the day); Richard Feynman (the bongo-playing cynosure of Caltech); and, especially, George Gamow, the bearlike Russian physicist — and prankster — who, with Watson, founded the legendary RNA-Tie Club.

But Watson, at 25 — already the winner of genetic research's greatest jackpot — is obsessed with another goal as well: to find love, and a wife equal to his unexpected fame. As he and an international cast of roguish young colleagues do important research they also compare notes and share complaints on the scarcity of eligible mates. And amid the feverish search for the role of the then still mysterious RNA molecule, Watson's thoughts are seldom far from the supreme object of his desire, an enthralling Swathmore coed who also happens to be the daughter of Harvard's most eminent biologist.

Part scientific apprenticeship, part sentimental education, Genes, Girls, and Gamow is a penetrating revelation of how great science is accomplished, and a candid account of one man's full range of ambitions.

Of course Watson and Francis Crick were serious scientists when they discovered the structure of DNA and won the Nobel Prize and all that. But they were also young men seeking less lofty prizes and engaging in activities that did not make it into the laboratory notes. If he refrains from telling all, at least he tells more about the RNA Tie Club and the Russian giant of the group, George Gamow.
Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

"Watson says in his preface that he's trying to capture the spirit of his youth and to avoid being reflective. He succeeds. This is very raw stuff: daily life trivia, snapshots of his friends and letters to and fro. But it strikes me that this material belongs in a dusty old box in an archive somewhere, not in a book....reading it feels very much like being trapped in an old folks' home with Uncle James and his box of mementos as he hoots about his randy boyhood." Alison Motluk, Salon.com

"Watson is at it again....Part memoir, part love story, part homage to the brilliant physicist George Gamow, Genes, Girls, and Gamow is another tell-all tale in the tradition of The Double Helix." Kirkus, starred review

James D. Watson is president of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. A member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society, he has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Science, and, with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 1962.