National Geographic Society Portrait

Date:
1974
Reference:
PP/CRI/A/1/2/6
Part of:
Francis Crick (1916-2004): archives
  • Archives and manuscripts
  • Online

Available online

Contains: 5 images

Access conditions

Works in this archive created by Francis Crick are available under a CC-BY licence. Please be aware that works in this archive created by other organisations and individuals are not covered under this licence, and you should obtain any necessary permissions before copying or adapting any such works.

In copyright

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Credit

National Geographic Society Portrait. In copyright. Source: Wellcome Collection.

About this work

Description

National Geographic Society portrait (colour, 21mm x 14mm) by Jean Leon Huens, showing Crick and James Watson with a double helix image.

The file also contains a letter (13 August, 1974) to Crick from Andrew Poggenpohl (National Geographic Magazine) informing Crick of the magazine's intention to "publish a brief portfolio of six paintings of eminent biologists".

In Crick's reply (19 August, 1974), he suggests that the painting might provide an opportunity to correct a popular misconception of the length of the DNA molecule: "The photograph that you sent me displays about two turns of the double helix. However, even the smallest DNA molecule is very much longer than that and the DNA molecules in higher organisms can be extremely long, some being over a million turns or more in length. It might be sensible therefore if the model is to appear in a painting, if the artist were instructed to make it appear endless in the sense that the beginning and the end of the model should be outside the frame of the painting. The majority of the population of the world, including Salvador Dali, is under the impression that DNA consists of about a turn and a half and I think that Geographic might do something to correct this misapprehension."

Publication/Creation

1974

Physical description

1 file Colour print (21mm x 14mm) showing Crick and James Watson with a double helix image. Copyright National Geographic Society.

Arrangement

The letters in this file were originally filed in alphabetical correspondence files. They have been placed in this file by the archivist for the convenience of the researcher.

Location of duplicates

A digitised copy is held by Wellcome Collection as part of Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics.

Where to find it

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