Horace Judson. Simon & Schuster, New York, 1979.
This book, better than any other, conveys the excitement and intellectual shock of being immersed the ferment of the molecular biology revolution of the 1960s. It is one of the best books ever written for the general public about how modern science is done. Judson provides an historical account of the central line of discoveries of molecular biology, describing exactly how the discoveries came to be made, and the very interesting and sometimes remarkable people who made them. Judson is particularly good at explaining how experimental science is done. He lays out the rationale for an experiment clearly, showing how the design of a particular experiment and its controls test the hypothesis in question. Alive with ideas, this book challenges you to think, and rewards you richly for doing it.