"THE MOST SIGNIFICANT SINGLE CONTRIBUTION TO BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE IN THE 20TH CENTURY": THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THE DNA MOLECULE RESEARCH IN NATURE

WATSON, James; CRICK, Francis; WILKINS, M.H.F; FRANKLIN, Rosalind; et al. "A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid" (171: 737-38); WITH: "Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids" (171:738-40); WITH: "Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate" (171: 740-41); WITH: "Genetical Implications of the Structure of Deoxyribonucleic Acid" (171: 964-67); WITH: "Evidence for 2-Chain Helix in Crystalline Structure of Sodium Deoxyribonucleate" (172: 156-57); WITH: "Heterogeneity of Deoxyribonucleic Acids" (172: 339-42). FROM: Nature: A Weekly Journal of Science, Volumes 171 and 172, January 3, 1953 to December 26, 1953. London: Macmillan and Co., (1953). Thin octavo, disbound, modern stiff paper wrappers. $8800.

Six articles extracted from Volumes 171 and 172 of Nature, including the first appearance of the article announcing the most important biological discovery of the 20th century, as well as five follow-up articles further establishing the structure and function of DNA.

In these articles in the journal Nature, the most important biological discovery of the 20th century is calmly announced and concisely elucidated in a paper little more than a page long: the key to the deciphering of the genetic code. "It has not escaped our notice," write Watson and Crick near the end of the first paper, "that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material." Neither did it escape the notice of the Nobel Prize committee. In 1962 Crick, Watson and Wilkins received the Nobel Prize in Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nuclear acids and its significance for information transfer in living material" (Garrison & Morton 256.3; 256.4). Rosalind Franklin may—and surely should—have been included in the award as well were it not for her early death in 1958. These papers document the birth of a new science, Molecular Biology, whose benefits for humanity we are only now beginning to realize. Dibner 200. Grolier Club, One Hundred Books Famous in Medicine, 99. Garrison & Morton 256.3, 256.4.

Closely bound, with tight inner margins. Text fine.