Francis Crick: Hunter of Life's Secrets Robert Olby Physicist, biophysicist, molecular biologist, neurobiologist, humanist, bon vivant - Francis Crick was a lively enthusiast for science and for life. He made his mark with the elucidation of the structure of DNA in 1953 with James Watson and shared a 1962 Nobel Prize for this discovery with Watson and Maurice Wilkins. Crick followed up this landmark work with important contributions that shaped the foundations of the new science of molecular biology - transfer RNA, ribosomes, messenger RNA, and the genetic code - in short, how DNA makes RNA makes protein, Crick's "Central Dogma". He then made an extraordinary scientific shift of direction, entering the field of neurobiology to study vision and the foundations of consciousness. In Francis Crick: Hunter of Life's Secrets, Robert Olby presents a full-length intellectual biography of Crick's life in science. After early life in Northampton, Crick gained experience as a scientist for the Royal Navy during World War II, before beginning academic studies in biophysics. His pioneering work in molecular biology in the 1950s and 1960s took place in Cambridge, and was followed by his move to the United States in 1976 and his work in neuroscience at the Salk Institute. Olby's detailed exploration of Crick's scientific life up to the famous 1953 discovery and beyond provides a clear demonstration of how chance does indeed favor the prepared mind. Olby and Crick met while Olby was writing his authoritative history The Path to the Double Helix. Noting that Olby had "an eye for a story", Crick later asked him to write a biographical essay for a 1969 "Lives in Science" conference. In 1990, Crick agreed to a full biography, provided it was not published during his lifetime. Crick and his wife Odile provided unrestricted access to Crick's scientific and personal papers and Olby had extensive discussions with Crick about the scientific issues the book would present. The result is a dynamic portrait of the remarkable development of Crick's career and his role in searching for and defining the molecules that form the basis of life. [...] Robert Olby, a prominent historian of science, is research professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh and author of the highly regarded Origins of Mendalism (1966, 1985) and The path to the Double Helix (1974, 1994). […]