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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. About how long did Crick think it would take he and Watson to narrow down the number of possible DNA structures?

2. How did Watson think that most of the scientific community felt about DNA?

3. What was Watson's main scientific interest?

4. What subject did Crick study as an undergraduate?

5. Which of the following best describes how Watson and Crick felt after Rosy and Maurice left?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Francis feel about Watson's work with bacteria?

2. What would Francis find awkward in regards to the problem of DNA?

3. In what way might this book be considered an apology for the winning of the Nobel Prize by Watson and Crick?

4. What changed during the normally social lunch period in the Cambridge lab?

5. What specific information was Crick interested in from Rosy's lecture that Watson had a difficult time retrieving?

6. What did Francis's solution about the coils do for him professionally?

7. What realization did Watson come to years after their discovery of the structure of DNA in regards to Rosy?

8. How many bases are there in DNA?

9. What bothered Crick about his wife's relationship with Elizabeth?

10. If Crick had been fired by Sir Lawrence, why might he have found it difficult to find a new job?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay describing in what way it is a truth that "a scientist's life might be interesting socially as well as intellectually." Use information from the text to support your writing.

Essay Topic 2

Write a comparison essay of Watson and Crick's motivations to complete work. How were they the same? How were they different? Include specific examples to explain your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay describing how a competitive streak drives scientists. Use examples from the text to show an example of this idea.

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