MetaFilter posts tagged with JamesWatson

Smart Man With Foot, Head in Wrong Places

Kirth Gerson — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 10:26:47 -0800

Something of a wild man - James Watson, the Nobel-Prize-winning DNA researcher, has made some (more) provocative remarks. Dr Watson told The Sunday Times that he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really". He said there was a natural desire that all human beings should be equal but "people who have to deal with black employees find this not true". Keith Vaz, the Labour chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: "These comments serve as a reminder of the attitudes which can still exists at the highest professional levels."

Francis Crick

verstegan — Fri, 04 Mar 2005 04:54:46 -0800

The papers of Francis Crick have been published online by the National Library of Medicine. The highlight of the collection is undoubtedly Crick's original sketch of the structure of DNA, but there are plenty of other fascinating items, including Crick's hostile comments on the manuscript of James Watson's book The Double Helix. (He later wrote to Watson that "if I had known you were going to write the sort of book you have written, I would never have collaborated with you".) For those who don't have time to browse the whole collection, images of selected highlights can also be found here, on the website of the Wellcome Trust, which bought the papers for $2.4 million in order to keep them in the public domain.

Lamont, you dummy!

ColdChef — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 14:30:23 -0800

Stupidity should be cured, says DNA discoverer. "People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty. I think it would be great."