Erwin Chargaff

Erwin Chargaff is an Austrian-born biochemist conducting his research at Columbia University in New York. He is an expert in DNA and the first to propose the correct pairing of the four base molecules of its structure: adenine pairing with thymine and guanine pairing with cytosine. When Watson and Crick learn of this theory, they begin to explore it, too. Eventually, they discover how to make a DNA model that allows for ' 'Chargaff s rules," yet another step in uncovering the mystery of the molecule.

Francis Crick

Francis Crick is Watson's closest partner in the search for and discovery of the structure of DNA. Crick is twelve years older than Watson and is described by his younger colleague in The Double Helix as ' 'almost totally unknown" and ' 'often not appreciated." Watson points out that other colleagues think Crick talks too much and that his...