a story lives forever
Register
Sign in
Form submission failed!

Stay signed in

Recover your password?
Register
Form submission failed!

Web of Stories Ltd would like to keep you informed about our products and services.

Please tick here if you would like us to keep you informed about our products and services.

I have read and accepted the Terms & Conditions.

Please note: Your email and any private information provided at registration will not be passed on to other individuals or organisations without your specific approval.

Video URL

You must be registered to use this feature. Sign in or register.

NEXT STORY

My Christian background

RELATED STORIES

The book that most influenced me
Francis Crick Scientist
Comments (0) Please sign in or register to add comments

Well it was this encyclopaedia [The Children’s Encyclopaedia]. I think there was a book about… a popular book about scientists, but I don’t think that particularly influenced me, it was the encyclopaedia really, which must have come out in weekly installments. And I think I must have had the bound volumes of them, so that you got a bit every week of myths and science and history and I don’t know what, a little bit of simplified English literature and… and I read most of it, but the bit that really fascinated me was the science and I would say that that was a very strong influence. I mean, it was an influence but, of course, it worked on my natural curiosity. There were lots of other children who could’ve read the same thing and… ignored the science altogether, for example.

The late Francis Crick, one of Britain's most famous scientists, won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962. He is best known for his discovery, jointly with James Watson and Maurice Wilkins, of the double helix structure of DNA, though he also made important contributions in understanding the genetic code and was exploring the basis of consciousness in the years leading up to his death in 2004.

Listeners: Christopher Sykes

Christopher Sykes is an independent documentary producer who has made a number of films about science and scientists for BBC TV, Channel Four, and PBS.

Tags: The Children’s Encyclopaedia

Duration: 50 seconds

Date story recorded: 1993

Date story went live: 24 January 2008