The Double Helix: Chapter 23–Epilogue

by James D. Watson
Francis Crick and James Watson changed the world forever—and won a Nobel Prize—when they uncovered the structure of DNA. In this memoir, Watson reveals the story behind their discovery.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–14, Chapters 15–22, Chapters 23–Epilogue
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. ajar
    slightly open
    Since the door was already ajar, I pushed it open to see her bending over a lighted box upon which lay an X-ray photograph she was measuring.
  2. refrain
    resist doing something
    In doing so, I could not refrain from pointing out the superficial resemblance between Pauling’s three-chain helix and the model that Francis and I had shown her fifteen months earlier.
  3. superficial
    only concerned with what is apparent or obvious
    In doing so, I could not refrain from pointing out the superficial resemblance between Pauling’s three-chain helix and the model that Francis and I had shown her fifteen months earlier.
  4. deduction
    something that is inferred
    The fact that Pauling’s deductions about symmetry were no more inspired than our awkward efforts of the year before would, I thought, amuse her.
  5. superfluous
    serving no useful purpose; having no excuse for being
    Most of my words to her were superfluous, for she knew that Pauling was wrong the moment I mentioned a helix.
  6. harangue
    a loud bombastic declamation expressed with strong emotion
    Interrupting her harangue, I asserted that the simplest form for any regular polymeric molecule was a helix.
  7. blubber
    cry or whine with snuffling
    Rosy by then was hardly able to control her temper, and her voice rose as she told me that the stupidity of my remarks would be obvious if I would stop blubbering and look at her X-ray evidence.
  8. incompetent
    showing lack of skill or aptitude
    Without further hesitation I implied that she was incompetent in interpreting X-ray pictures.
  9. simultaneously
    at the same instant
    They were quickly writing up their results and wanted to publish simultaneously with our announcement of the base pairs.
  10. inevitably
    in such a manner as could not be otherwise
    Now that I need no longer merely imagine the emotional hell he had faced during the past two years, he could treat me almost as a fellow collaborator rather than as a distant acquaintance with whom close confidences inevitably led to painful misunderstandings.
  11. considerable
    large in number, amount, extent, or degree
    With the A form, the argument for a helix was never straightforward, and considerable ambiguity existed as to exactly which type of helical symmetry was present.
  12. mere
    being nothing more than specified
    With the B form, however, mere inspection of its X-ray picture gave several of the vital helical parameters.
  13. conceivably
    within the realm of possibility
    Conceivably, after only a few minutes’ calculations, the number of chains in the molecule could be fixed.
  14. pertinent
    being of striking appropriateness
    But since Maurice’s long-drawn-out reply never came to the point, I could not decide whether he was saying that no one at King’s had measured the pertinent reflections or whether he wanted to eat his meal before it got cold.
  15. foolproof
    not liable to failure
    Jerry, however, did not give a foolproof reason for preferring the keto forms.
  16. internal
    occurring within an institution or community
    He clearly was not in sympathy with the internal squabbling at King’s—especially when it might allow Linus, of all people, to get the thrill of discovering the structure of still another important molecule.
  17. carte blanche
    complete freedom or authority to act
    Thus he could fall asleep that night untroubled by the nightmare that he had given Crick carte blanche for another foray into frenzied inconsiderateness.
  18. foray
    an initial attempt
    Thus he could fall asleep that night untroubled by the nightmare that he had given Crick carte blanche for another foray into frenzied inconsiderateness.
  19. meticulously
    in a manner marked by extreme care of details
    When I was watching Maurice meticulously finish all the food on his plate, Odile was admiring Bertrand’s perfectly proportioned face as he spoke of his problems choosing among potential social engagements during his forthcoming summer on the Riviera.
  20. antiquarian
    of or relating to persons who study or deal in antiques
    Their host, an antiquarian architect, had never truckled under to modern civilization and kept his house free of gas and electricity.
  21. compatible
    able to exist and perform in harmonious combination
    All the possible models compatible with the B-form X-ray data, however, looked stereochemically even more unsatisfactory than our three-chained models of fifteen months before.
  22. frequency
    the number of occurrences within a given time period
    At this stage Francis’ interest began to perk up, and at increasing frequencies he would look up from his calculations to glance at the model.
  23. vaguely
    in an unclear way
    I went ahead spending most evenings at the films, vaguely dreaming that any moment the answer would suddenly hit me.
  24. vexing
    extremely annoying or displeasing
    There was also the vexing problem of how the intertwined chains might be held together by hydrogen bonds between the bases.
  25. pallid
    lacking in vitality or interest or effectiveness
    But my expectations were dashed as soon as I arrived to spot a group of healthy hockey players and several pallid debutantes.
  26. implication
    a meaning that is not expressly stated but can be inferred
    Suddenly I realized the potentially profound implications of a DNA structure in which the adenine residue formed hydrogen bonds similar to those found in crystals of pure adenine.
  27. template
    a model or standard for making comparisons
    Instead it would strongly suggest that one chain in each molecule had at some earlier stage served as the template for the synthesis of the other chain.
  28. arbitrarily
    in a random or indiscriminate manner
    Happily he let out that for years organic chemists had been arbitrarily favoring particular tautomeric forms over their alternatives on only the flimsiest of grounds.
  29. gimmick
    a drawback or difficulty that is not readily evident
    Thoroughly worried, I went back to my desk hoping that some gimmick might emerge to salvage the like-with-like idea.
  30. successive
    following in order without gaps
    But this would mean that the rotation angle between successive bases would be only 18 degrees, a value Francis believed was absolutely ruled out by his recent fiddling with the models.
  31. conjecture
    the formation of conclusions from incomplete evidence
    Now this conjecture is known to be wrong.
  32. revolutionize
    change radically
    I went back to Pop’s to tell Elizabeth and Bertrand that Francis and I had probably beaten Pauling to the gate and that the answer would revolutionize biology.
  33. pinnacle
    a slender upright spire at the top of a buttress or a tower
    On my way to the Whim I slowly walked toward the Clare Bridge, staring up at the gothic pinnacles of the King’s College Chapel that stood out sharply against the spring sky.
  34. unobtrusive
    not undesirably noticeable
    I briefly stopped and looked over at the perfect Georgian features of the recently cleaned Gibbs Building, thinking that much of our success was due to the long uneventful periods when we walked among the colleges or unobtrusively read the new books that came into Heffer’s Bookstore.
  35. concise
    expressing much in few words
    Each got a quick, concise lecture from Francis, during the second of which I wandered down to see if the shop could be speeded up to produce the purines and pyrimidines later that afternoon.
  36. plumb
    exactly vertical
    Thus the next several days were to be spent using a plumb line and a measuring stick to obtain the relative positions of all atoms in a single nucleotide.
  37. equivalence
    essential comparability and interchangeability
    Immediately he caught on to the complementary relation between the two chains and saw how an equivalence of adenine with thymine and guanine with cytosine was a logical consequence of the regular repeating shape of the sugar-phosphate backbone.
  38. devoid
    completely wanting or lacking
    Maurice, in a lab devoid of structural chemists, did not have anyone about to tell him that all the textbook pictures were wrong.
  39. subdued
    restrained in style or quality
    But there was no trace of resentment on his face, and in his subdued way he was thoroughly excited that the structure would prove of great benefit to biology.
  40. hostility
    a state of deep-seated ill-will
    Thinking that Rosy wanted nothing to do with him, he spoke largely to Maurice, until he slowly perceived that Rosy wanted his crystallographic advice and was prepared to exchange unconcealed hostility for conversation between equals.
  41. hierarchical
    classified by various criteria into successive levels
    Soon after her entry into the King’s lab, she had rebelled against its hierarchical character, taking offense because her first-rate crystallographic ability was not given formal recognition.
  42. impetuous
    characterized by undue haste and lack of thought
    If they had not, I would have been in the dreadful position of having to inform Delbruck and Pauling that I had impetuously written of an idea which was only twelve hours old and lived only twenty-four before it was dead.
  43. postscript
    textual matter that is added onto a publication
    A postscript asked for information on what his scientific clowns were up to.
  44. analytical
    of a proposition that is necessarily true
    Also pleasing was the great accuracy of the data, which illustrated better than any previous analytical work the equality of adenine with thymine and guanine with cytosine.
  45. exemplary
    worthy of imitation
    Rosalind’s exemplary courage and integrity were apparent to all when, knowing she was mortally ill, she did not complain but continued working on a high level until a few weeks before her death.
Created on Wed Aug 24 13:22:48 EDT 2016 (updated Mon Sep 24 14:23:41 EDT 2018)

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