After reading The Double Helix by James B. Watson, I have learned that the double helix structure of DNA is the source of the genetic code that determines the traits passed along from one living generation to the next. In deciding which of the critical elements in the process of discovering the structure of DNA was most surprising would be how X-rays might be diffracted by a helical molecule. Although Watson was very open about …showed first 75 words of 432 total…

…showed last 75 words of 432 total…very little water. Watson mentions on page 107 that the B-form is clearly helical, and as a result, the double helix model was derived from the B-form data. Franklin’s contributions to the model are providing critical X-ray data and insisting that the bases be placed at the centre of the structure. Her immediate acceptance of the double helix model (p. 134) contrasts sharply with Watson’s assertion that she had been “anti-helical” up to that point.