James Watson, Nobel Prize (and Saturn Return)

James Watson, former Nobel Prize winner, currently under heavy fire for his allegedly "racist" comments, is 79 years old. He was born in 1928. He has therefore completed two Saturn Returns.

"Known for loving controversy," wrote one account ...

James Watson is promoting his book, "Avoid Boring People." On his path, he eschews "the boring," and certainly has walked right into his beloved controversy on this one.

At his first Saturn Return (1958), Watson was working with Crick, and Wilkins and the three were later awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (in 1962) for their research on the structure of nucleic acids. There was controversy regarding this - you can read about it just about anywhere, including on wikipedia.com.

In 1968, Watson wrote The Double Helix, one of the Modern Library's 100 best non-fiction books. He almost named it "Honest Jim" (see the theme here?) and it is described as "the sometimes painful story of not only the discovery of the structure of DNA, but the personalities, conflicts and controversy surrounding their work."

According to wik, Harvard University Press was to publish the book, and then declined and it was published by a commercial publisher, "an incident which caused some scandal."

At his second Saturn Return, in 1988, Watson was appointed Head of the Human Genome Project at the National Institutes of Health and this too involved controversy. According to wik,

He left "after conflicts with the new NIH Director. "Watson was opposed to Healy's attempts to acquire patents on gene sequences, and any ownership of the 'laws of nature.'"

Two years before stepping down from the Genome Project, he had stated his opinion on this long and ongoing controversy which he saw as an illogical barrier to research; he said, "The nations of the world must see that the human genome belongs to the world's people, as opposed to its nations." He left within weeks of the 1992 announcement that the NIH would be applying for patents on brain-specific cDNAs."

This is a man who has had great scientific achievements and contributions, both earned and awarded, amidst controversy.

We will take a look at his chart shortly to see what drives this man, and what the third Saturn Return might bring.

Email semiramis.appiamo@hotmail.com for a free mini-reading. It's Mercury Retrograde. I'm here to help. Saturn Returns are at approximately 29.5 years of age, 59.5, and For a SATURN READING, click HERE.