Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code

Between 1953 and 1966, scientist Francis Crick led a revolution in biology by discovering, quite literally, the secret of life: the genetic code. Crick, who died in 2004 at the age of 88, will be remembered as one of the most influential scientists in history, but little is known about his life outside of the laboratory. Science writer Matt Ridley, author of the national bestseller Genome, presents the most complete, in-depth portrait of Crick available today.

Ridley's comprehensive work follows Crick from his childhood in the English Midlands to a lackluster education and six years designing magnetic mines for the Royal Navy, to his leap into biology at the age of thirty-one and its astonishing consequences. In the process, Ridley illuminates the life and ideas of the man who forever changed our world and how we understand it.

Matt Ridley's books have been shortlisted for six literary awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Genome. His book The Agile Gene was named best science book published in 2003 by The National Academies of Science. He is a visiting professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. He lives in Newcastle, England.

"Matt Ridley's Francis Crick perceptively and warmly recounts the extraordinary life of the 20th century's most important biologist." -- James D. Watson

--David Quammen