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Crick
A Mind in Motion
Contributors
By Matthew Cobb
Formats and Prices
- On Sale
- Nov 11, 2025
- Page Count
- 448 pages
- Publisher
- Basic Books
- ISBN-13
- 9781541602878
Price
$19.99Price
$25.99 CADFormat
Format:
- ebook $19.99 $25.99 CAD
- Hardcover $36.00 $47.00 CAD
- Audiobook Download (Unabridged) $31.99
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What are the moments that make a life? In Francis Crick’s, the decisive moment came in 1951, when he first met James Watson. Their ensuing discovery of the structure of DNA made Crick world-famous. But neither that chance meeting nor that discovery made Crick who he was.
As Matthew Cobb shows in Crick, it is another chance encounter, with a line from the writing of Beat poet Michael McClure, that reveals Crick’s character: “THIS IS THE POWERFUL KNOWLEDGE,” it shouted. Crick, having read it, would keep it with him for the rest of his life, a token of his desire to solve the riddles of existence. John Keats once accused scientists of merely wanting to “unweave a rainbow,” but it was an irrepressible, Romantic urge to wonder that defined Crick, as much as a desire to find the basis of life in DNA and the workings of our minds.
For the first time ever, Cobb presents the full portrait of Crick, a scientist and a man: his triumphs and failings, insights and oversights. Crick set out to find the powerful knowledge. Almost miraculously, he did.
Genre:
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"Knowledgeable."Kirkus
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"Crick: A Mind in Motion beautifully captures the personality of Francis Crick, the way I knew him for 16 years, his incandescent intellect, his incessant striving for mechanistic explanations in terms of genes and neuronsChristof Koch, author of Then I Am Myself the World
underlying the code of life and the footprints of consciousness in the brain, always, always asking why and why not, until, literally, the day he died." -
"In this thrilling biography of one of the 20th century’s greatest minds, Cobb uncovers the unseen twists, relentless curiosity, and sheer audacity that shaped Francis Crick’s remarkable life. This intimate portrait will inspire any reader drawn to the thrill of discovery and the power of big ideas."David Eagleman, author of Livewired and Incognito
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"At last: a life of Crick that resembles the original—immensely learned, jaunty, funny, often surprisingly tender. Cobb puts the legendary mind of Francis Crick back where it belongs—in the body of a very human being."Nathaniel Comfort, John Hopkins University
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"Like Crick himself, this is brilliant and inspiring. A landmark biography."Adam Rutherford, author of Creation
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"An enthralling biography. Clear, sharp and meticulous, Crick is the story of a mind that never stopped questioning - and how science is still trying to catch up."Roger Highfield, author of Virtual You
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"This is the biography that Crick deserves: compellingly readable, insightful, celebratory and critical as the content demands, and entirely true to the spirit of this ingenious, remarkable and sometimes infuriating man. It is hard to imagine this book ever being bettered."Philip Ball, author of How Life Works: A User's Guide
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