UCSD Library has just recently become the sole
U.S. repository for Francis Crick’s voluminous cache of scientific
papers. Crick, who won the Nobel Prize with James Watson for their
discovery
of the double helical structure of the DNA molecule, died on
July 28, 2004. He had worked for the last quarter of a century
at the Salk Institute, but it is less well known that he had
also been an adjunct professor of psychology at UCSD since
1983.
Crick’s formidable yet gentlemanly presence loomed large over
La Jolla’s high-octane neuroscience community, which includes
researchers like UCSD philosopher Pat Churchland and psychologist
V.S. Ramachandran, who have long shared Crick’s devotion to
unearthing the mysteries of the brain and illuminating the nature
of human consciousness.
Crick was best known for his pioneering work in elucidating DNA’s
structure and the genetic code, but over the last two decades, Crick
was on a passionate quest to define the neural basis of consciousness.
According to Ramachandran, Crick, almost single handedly made the
scientific study of consciousness respectable, and
in so doing, played a key role in making UCSD and The Salk Institute
the nation’s preeminent centers for research in cognitive neuroscience.
"Crick was instrumental in attracting many
of us in neuroscience and psychology to La Jolla in the early ’80s,
transforming it into ‘neuron
valley’,” says Ramachandran, who is known for his somewhat
quirky insights into the brain’s inner workings. “His
passion and insatiable curiosity in pursuit of the link between
brain and mind inspired countless students and colleagues. Science,
for
Crick, was always a love affair with nature—a grand, romantic
adventure.”
In December 2001, Crick’s scientific papers were sold to the
Wellcome Library in London for approximately $2.5 million, which
is believed to be the largest amount paid to a contemporary scientist
for his or her archives. As part of the agreement, copies of the
original papers were donated to UCSD, to be housed in UCSD’s
Mandeville Special Collections Library.
Crick’s papers—which fill about a dozen filing cabinets
and measure some 85 linear feet—include his writings about
the discovery of DNA’s structure as well as his subsequent
work at Salk on neuroscience, the brain and consciousness. The papers
document Crick’s long and fruitful scientific career through
correspondence, scientific notes, drafts, laboratory notebooks, reprints,
papers delivered at scientific meetings, photographs, and miscellaneous
ephemera. The collection dates from 1947 through 2004.
“The Crick papers are a tremendous addition
to the UCSD Libraries’ outstanding
science and technology collection
at the University,” says Lynda Claassen,
director of the Mandeville Special Collections Library at UCSD.
Other scientific papers stored in
the temperature and humidity-controlled environment of the Special
Collections’ rare books section
include the archives
of scientists Jonas Salk, Leslie Orgel and Leo Szilard.  — Dolores Davies
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