Contents -- Preface -- Chapter 1 A Magician of Virology from Australia -- The Shaping of a Biologist -- Virus as an Organism -- Phages and Receptors -- Poliovirus -- The Embryonated Hen's Egg -- Pioneering Studies of Influenza Virus -- Viruses Can Persist in Man -- The Sherlock Holmes of Epidemiology -- The Evaluations by Nobel Committees -- Early Steps Towards Virus Chemoprophylaxis -- Influenza Virus Grown in Eggs -- Q Fever -- Hemagglutination -- The Weakening Candidacy -- The Continued Studies of Receptors -- The Golden Age of Virology and the Changing Science -- Chapter 2 A Divided Nobel Prize and a New Era in Immunology -- The Early Nobel Prizes in Immunology -- From Virology to Immunology -- Self and Non-self -- Twin Calves -- Instruction versus Selection -- Clonal Selection -- It Takes Two to Tango -- A Multicultural Background -- The Appeal of Oxford -- Tissue Rejection Is an Immune Reaction -- A Visit to Stockholm -- Inbred Mice -- Tolerance Unraveled -- A Graft Can React Against the Host -- The Nobel Committee Reviews the Discovery of Immunological Tolerance -- A Bacteriologist Reviews Immunology -- A Discovery Worthy of a Prize -- Nominations in 1960 -- Sven Gard's Busy Summer -- The Support for a Prize Amplified -- Harmony but Breach of Consensus -- The Nobel Events in 1960 -- The Post-Prize Engagements of Burnet and Medawar - Two Exceptional Statesmen of Science -- Burnet, the Dystopian Visionary -- Medawar - The Years of Hubris and the Rich Aftermath -- Chapter 3 More Nobel Prizes in Immunology -- The Origin of Lymphocytes Engaged in Immune Responses -- The Lack of Recognition of the Discoveries of B and T Cells by a Nobel Prize -- The Basic Structure of an Antibody -- One Cell - One Antibody -- One Antigen Selects a Swarm of Antibodies -- The Richness of Antibodies Is Created by a Lottery System.

Antibodies Cannot Penetrate into Cells -- The Nobel Assembly and an Influential Secretary -- An Embarrassed Newly Appointed Secretary -- The Delayed Nobel Prize -- The Cell-Bound Immunity Has an Unexpected Restriction -- Innate Immunity Finally Recognized Again -- Signalling Without Direct Cell Contacts -- Chapter 4 Immunity, Infections and Transplantations -- Inherited and Acquired Immune Defects -- Personal Experiences of Major Health Challenges and Engagement in Research -- The Evolutionary Interplay of Viruses and Their Hosts -- General Remarks -- Acute Virus Infections -- Certain Viruses Can Evade an Immune Response -- Persistent Virus Infections -- The Eradication of a Virus Disease and a Virus Species -- The Development in Tissue Transplantations in Humans -- Transplantation of Solid Organs -- Transplantation of Bone Marrow -- A Committed Female Scientist -- Complications of Medically Induced Immune Suppression -- A Management of Bereavement -- Chapter 5 Transgressing Borders in Science and Scenes of Life -- The Assimilated Jew and the Budding Scientist -- Rutherford's Laboratory -- The Turmoil of the First World War -- The First Stay with Bohr - The Hafnium Years -- The Deliberations by the Nobel Committee on the Discovery of Hafnium -- The Age of the Earth and the Rare Earth Elements -- Years of Interlude in Freiburg -- Return to Copenhagen - The Indicator Method Comes of Age -- The Evaluation of the Indicator Method by the Nobel Committee -- The Shadow of the Second World War -- A Final Home Country -- The Nobel Prize -- Modern Tracer Techniques in Biology, Medicine and Archaeology -- Life after the Nobel Prize -- Chapter 6 Making Sense of Hearing -- The Early Years of Studies -- The Inner Ear Is So Beautiful that I Must Study It -- The Swedish Connection -- A Discovery that Caught the Ear of the Nobel Committee -- The Decisive Year of 1961.

The Prize Ceremony -- A Different Kind of Nobel Lecture -- A Meeting of Minds -- Our Senses and Nobel Prizes -- A Final Home in Hawaii -- East Meets West -- A Gracious Will -- Chapter 7 Unraveling the Complexity of Protein Folding -- The Great Sage -- The Birth of a New Branch of Science -- The Lady of Crystals -- A Scientist Obsessed by Hemoglobin -- Enter Kendrew -- The Genius of Chemistry -- Critical Turning Points in the Understanding of the Structure of Hemoglobin -- Understanding the Structure of Myoglobin -- The Delayed Nobel Prize to Hodgkin -- Protein Crystallography Comes of Age -- Towards the Finish Line -- Life after the Nobel Prize -- A Female Scientist and Humanist -- A Great Science Administrator -- A Scientist with Wide-Ranging Involvements -- Chapter 8 "It's So Beautiful, You See, So Beautiful!" -- The Great DNA Discovery -- Biophysics at King's College -- Watson's Arrival Upsets a Gentlemen's Agreement -- The Rapid Developments of February 1953 -- Visitors Were Impressed -- Time to Publish -- The Role of Nucleic Acids Finally Appreciated -- Amino Acid Changes Caused by Mutations May Lead to Disease -- A Biochemist with a Particular Influence on the Nobel Work -- Infectious Virus Nucleic Acid -- Bragg Makes Strategic Nominations -- The Review by a Crystallographer -- The History of Crystallographic Studies of DNA -- A Detour into the World of Virus Structures -- Back to the Double Helix -- Pauling Reflects on Nominations for the Discovery of the Structure of DNA -- The Temperature Rises and a Powerful Nomination -- Tiselius' Final Analysis -- The Karolinska Institute - A Slow Starter that Won the Trophy -- The First Review of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA -- The Critical Year -- Honest Jim and the Double Helix -- The Short Life of a Devoted Scientist -- The Background -- Paris - Good Science and Good Life -- From Coal to DNA.

She Came So Close -- The Attraction of Virus Structures -- International Contacts -- The Tragic End -- Classification of Viruses -- Wilkins or Franklin? -- Crick and Klug Discuss Franklin's Qualifications as a Scientist -- Three or Two? -- Days of Festivities in December 1962 -- The Tallest Beacon among Molecular Biologists -- Living for 60 Years with the Golden Helix -- The Third Man Remained the Third Man -- Franklin's Posthumous Recognition -- What Is a Gene? -- Chapter 9 Coda -- Paradigmatic Discoveries -- Genius Is a Fire that Lights Itself -- The Importance of Lifestyle -- The Driving Force in the Pursuit of Science -- Internalism and Externalism -- Science and Politics -- Seeds and Deeds -- References -- Index.