The Double Helix

 This fascinating, gossipy story of how the structure of DNA was discovered is the widely accepted accepted account of the most important biological discovery of the 20th century.  

Watson and Crick are among the few scientists whose names and accomplishment are known to most laypeople.  Also widely acknowledged is Watson's general misogyny and especially his denigration of Rosalind Franklin scientific skills and  his wildly inappropriate portrayal of her as a shrew.  Sadly, Franklin's exceptional x-ray crystallographic data were absolutely essential for Watson and Crick to discover the correct structure of DNA - and they obtained her data in a furtive way and then published their proposed structure without acknowledging her essential contribution. 

Tragically, Franklin died at a very young age and before the Nobel prize was awarded for the discovery of DNA's structure. Because Nobel prizes are not awarded posthumously, Franklin was not included in the award.  Although Watson and Crick could not have gotten the correct structure without Franklin's results, Crick, in an interview, stated that if he and Watson had not announced their proposed structure, Franklin would have gotten the structure on her own "certainly within 3 months".   Crick has also denounced Watson's self-serving account as "a contemptible pack of damn nonsense" Nevertheless, it does provide insight into how biological research is conducted and it is still a mesmerizing read.