Back in college, James Watson is one name I had to take to heart if I am to consider myself a true advocate of science. He won the Nobel Prize (in Physiology or Medicine) in 1962, together with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, for discovering the structure of the DNA - what they called "the secret to life." Did they really crack the code of life? In a way, they did. The DNA, after all, serves as the genetic blueprint, that which carries hereditary information, and is unique for every individual (with the exception of identical twins). Their discovery "has been called the most important biological work of the last 100 years, and the field it opened may be the scientific frontier for the next 100."
Which is why it's a shame that at the dawn of publication of his new book, Avoid Boring People: Lessons from a Life in Science, he got himself in the middle of a racial controversy. In an interview with The Sunday Times (London), he said that he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa. All our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours, whereas all the testing says not really." I wonder, where does that leave us, Asians, then? Apparently, this is not his first blunder. The blog at ScientificAmerican.com has an interesting list of James Watsons' "greatest hits."
The long-time head of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York has apologized for his remarks. He is currently suspended from his post.
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