Chapter 16 Summary

Watson began working on tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), which contains a nucleic acid called RNA. He hoped that his studies would help him eventually learn about DNA. Watson began learning how to make X-ray crystallography images in order to try to show that TMV had helically stacked protein. As he struggled unsuccessfully to make decent X-ray photographs, he accompanied Crick's wife to parties that her husband didn't want to go to. At the end of the chapter, Linus Pauling is expected to arrive in England for a conference.

Chapter 16 Analysis

Watson portrays himself as constantly behind, with less knowledge than others and always struggling to understand. One of the characteristics of Watson in this book, though, is that he is always learning. In the past, he has avoided learning X-ray crystallography. In this chapter, he finds a use for this knowledge and therefore...