The eighth day of creation

What Hacker News says

1. jll29Aug 2026
   One take-away: At the very least, each school library schould provide:

   • Douglas R. Hofstadter, Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

   • David Goodsell, The Machinery of Life

   • William W. Cohen, A Computer Scientist’s Guide to Cell Biology

   • Horace Freeland Judson, The Eighth Day of Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Biology

   • Lewis Thomas, The Medusa and the Snail: More Notes of a Biology Watcher

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2. dekhnNov 2025
   The best I've read is "The Eighth Day Of Creation" (which is amazing book beyond the part that covers the elucidation of the structure of DNA). He references multiple internal data sources that establish the process by which Gosling's photo made it to Watson and Crick. Of all the accounts I've read, it seems to be the most factual. I think it's also worth reading Watson's account ("The Double Helix") and the book that originally brought the most attention to the treatment of Franklin ("Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA")

   I believe this article has some updated results: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/25/science/rosalind-franklin... and it appears there was an earlier book before Dark Lady, referenced here: https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/21/archives/rosalind-frankli...

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3. jaaustinNov 2025
   I want to use this opportunity to shill possibly the best history of science ever written: The Eighth Day of Creation [1], which describes the history of structural biology, including Watson’s various contributions. He comes across as a precocious asshole, not without talent but with a stronger eye towards self-advancement.

   [1] https://www.cshlpress.com/default.tpl?cart=17625586661954464...

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4. the__alchemistFeb 2025
   In line with some other comments: The list is finite, and curated, so I will add some not included: GEB (As FuriouslyAdrift said), and The Eighth Day of Creation. The latter is a collection of first-hand interviews with the biologists who shaped the rapid expansion of the field in the 20th century.
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5. the__alchemistApr 2024
   Perhaps this is obvious, but if you liked this article, check out the works referenced in it! The Eighth Day of Creation, The Machinery of Life, A Computer Scientist’s Guide to Cell Biology, and GEB are all outsanding.
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6. ipnonFeb 2022
   "The Eighth Day of Creation" is a second-hand account of the discovery of DNA and the molecular biotechnology revolution that followed. It's like watching da Vinci paint the Mona Lisa.
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