The Times Science Review
Encyclopedia
Between 1951 and 1966 The Times
published a separately paid-for quarterly science review; the new publication started with the title of "The Times Review of the Progress of Science", but subsequently became better known as "The Times Science Review" for its 15 year existence.
Remarkably in 1953, both "The Times" newspaper and its new Science Review supplement failed to report on the discovery of the structure of DNA
in Cambridge
, which was first reported on by the News Chronicle
and then the New York Times. The discovery was made on February 28, 1953; Sir Lawrence Bragg's original announcement of the discovery at a Solvay conference
on proteins in Belgium
on 8 April 1953 went unreported by the British press! The first Watson/Crick paper appeared in Nature
magazine on April 25, 1953.
Bragg, the director of the Cavendish Laboratory
, where James D. Watson
and Francis Crick
worked, then gave a talk at Guys Hospital Medical School in London on Thursday, May 14, 1953 which resulted in an article by Ritchie Calder in The News Chronicle of London, on Friday, May 15, 1953, entitled "Why You Are You. Nearer Secret of Life." The news reached readers of The New York Times
the next day; Victor K. McElheny, in researching his biography, "Watson and DNA: Making a Scientific Revolution", found a clipping of a six-paragraph New York Times article written from London and dated May 16, 1953 with the headline "Form of `Life Unit' in Cell Is Scanned." The article ran in an early edition and was then pulled to make space for news deemed more important. (The New York Times subsequently ran a longer article on June 12, 1953). The Cambridge University undergraduate newspaper Varsity
also ran its own short article on the discovery on Saturday, May 30, 1953.
Started in 1951, "The Times" Science Review was discontinued in 1966; "The Times" started a new 'Eureka' monthly science magazine in October 2009; the new 60-page magazine, is given away for free with "The Times" on the first Thursday of each month.
Science historians can easily access the 15 years of issues of "The Times" Science Review at the Newspaper Library at Colindale, London under System number: 013904756, starting with The Times Review of the Progress of Science no.'s 1-3 (Aug.1951 - Spring 1952), followed by no.4-60 Summer 1952 - Summer 1966 under Shelfmark: 1952-1966 LON LD2 NPL.
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
published a separately paid-for quarterly science review; the new publication started with the title of "The Times Review of the Progress of Science", but subsequently became better known as "The Times Science Review" for its 15 year existence.
Remarkably in 1953, both "The Times" newspaper and its new Science Review supplement failed to report on the discovery of the structure of DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, which was first reported on by the News Chronicle
News Chronicle
The News Chronicle was a British daily newspaper. It ceased publication on 17 October 1960, being absorbed into the Daily Mail. Its offices were in Bouverie Street, off Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 8DP, England.-Daily Chronicle:...
and then the New York Times. The discovery was made on February 28, 1953; Sir Lawrence Bragg's original announcement of the discovery at a Solvay conference
Solvay Conference
The International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry, located in Brussels, were founded by the Belgian industrialist Ernest Solvay in 1912, following the historic invitation-only 1911 Conseil Solvay, the turning point in world physics...
on proteins in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
on 8 April 1953 went unreported by the British press! The first Watson/Crick paper appeared in Nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
magazine on April 25, 1953.
Bragg, the director of the Cavendish Laboratory
Cavendish Laboratory
The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the university's School of Physical Sciences. It was opened in 1874 as a teaching laboratory....
, where James D. Watson
James D. Watson
James Dewey Watson is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA in 1953 with Francis Crick...
and Francis Crick
Francis Crick
Francis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, and most noted for being one of two co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953, together with James D. Watson...
worked, then gave a talk at Guys Hospital Medical School in London on Thursday, May 14, 1953 which resulted in an article by Ritchie Calder in The News Chronicle of London, on Friday, May 15, 1953, entitled "Why You Are You. Nearer Secret of Life." The news reached readers of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
the next day; Victor K. McElheny, in researching his biography, "Watson and DNA: Making a Scientific Revolution", found a clipping of a six-paragraph New York Times article written from London and dated May 16, 1953 with the headline "Form of `Life Unit' in Cell Is Scanned." The article ran in an early edition and was then pulled to make space for news deemed more important. (The New York Times subsequently ran a longer article on June 12, 1953). The Cambridge University undergraduate newspaper Varsity
Varsity (Cambridge)
Varsity is the oldest of Cambridge University's main student newspapers. It has been published continuously since 1947, and is one of only three fully independent student newspapers in the UK. It appears every Friday around Cambridge...
also ran its own short article on the discovery on Saturday, May 30, 1953.
Started in 1951, "The Times" Science Review was discontinued in 1966; "The Times" started a new 'Eureka' monthly science magazine in October 2009; the new 60-page magazine, is given away for free with "The Times" on the first Thursday of each month.
Science historians can easily access the 15 years of issues of "The Times" Science Review at the Newspaper Library at Colindale, London under System number: 013904756, starting with The Times Review of the Progress of Science no.'s 1-3 (Aug.1951 - Spring 1952), followed by no.4-60 Summer 1952 - Summer 1966 under Shelfmark: 1952-1966 LON LD2 NPL.
External links
- http://newspapers.bl.uk/blcs/ The Newspaper Library, Colindale, London
- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article6847280.ece New "Eureka" magazine