PUBLIC LECTURE

Francis Crick: Who was the man who discovered DNA?

Thursday, 11 March 2010

Robert Olby is a prominent historian of nineteenth and twentieth century biology, specialising in genetics and molecular biology. He most recently published the first full-length biography of the late Dr Francis Crick, Francis Crick: Hunter of life’s secrets, with support from the National Science Foundation and the award of an Archives Fellowship at Churchill College, Cambridge.

This richly illustrated lecture unearths the formative influences that shaped Francis Crick’s career, his personality, and his extraordinary qualities as a scientist.

Starting with his provincial upbringing, this lecture will follow his move to London, the outbreak of World War II and the influential years in which Crick worked for the Royal Navy.

What drew Crick to biology? How did he win respect in crystallography before discovering the structure of DNA? Why was his relationship with Cambridge University ambivalent? How strong was his commitment to scientific humanism and how did it play out in his views on contemporary society and religious institutions? How did this shape Francis Crick’s later career as a Nobel laureate?

Robert Olby’s visit to Australia is supported by the British High Commission, the Australian Academy of Science and the Royal Institution of Australia.