Measuring the Viscosity of Water at High Temperature.

first research notebooks of one of the decipherers of dna

The substantial manuscript laboratory notebooks of Francis Crick, produced during his first PhD attempt at University College London in 1938 and 1939. Laboratory notebooks by leading scientific figures are extremely rare on the market and it is unlikely that anything similar by Crick will emerge, as his working papers are at the Wellcome Collection (likewise, his colleague James Watson's archive is held by Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory). This set was apparently abandoned by Crick when his studies were interrupted at the outbreak of the Second World War, as it was in the possession of Leonard Walden, Chief Laboratory Assistant, who is mentioned repeatedly in the text. An exceptional and historically significant set of documents from the beginning of one of the great scientific careers.

As a child Francis Crick (1916-2004), the son of a Northampton shoe manufacturer, was bright and scientifically curious, 'anxious to make a big discovery himself one day, but worried that all the important ones would have been made by the time he grew up' (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). After failing to win a scholarship to Oxford or Cambridge he studied physics at University College, London. Though 'the course was not inspiring and his degree disappointing (second-class), he stayed on to do research under Edward Neville da Costa Andrade' who had 'built up and sustained for many years an outstanding research school in the physics of solids and liquids, which produced many classic papers on the growth and plastic glide of metal single crystals, on the origin of cracks in glass, and on the viscosity of liquids' (ODNB).

As a graduate student Crick investigated what he later described as 'the dullest problem imaginable - how the viscosity of water, under pressure, changes with temperature. This project involved building equipment, which Crick enjoyed but was not very good at (he was never very practical)' (Cobb, Crick: A Mind in Motion, pp. 25-26). At the outbreak of war research was halted and the physics department evacuated to Wales. Crick was appointed as a Temporary Experimental Officer and spent most of the war in the revitalised mine department at Havant. Following the cessation of hostilities he could not return to his physics PhD, in part because the apparatus he built had been destroyed. 'Instead he turned to the borders between physics and other disciplines. Now what, he asked himself, do I chat to other people about? The answer was chromosomes, viruses, and penicillin' (ODNB).

These three notebooks cover the full period of Crick's graduate research, with the first inscribed 'Started Wednesday, March 9th, 1938', and continuing on a daily basis through August 12, 1939, with all entries given dates and times. As to be expected, the early focus is on design and construction of the experiment. On March 11th he 'obtained direct vision spectroscope from Walden. Made copy/sketch of principle lines of mercury lamp spectrum... decided to move to the far beam as the near one is too rusty etc...'. By the March 17th has carried out a review of progress, with a list of 'preliminary experiments to be done' A frequent note in the first weeks is 'workshop course' or simply 'workshop'. There are near-daily conversations with 'the Prof' (Andrade) and the laboratory technicians, most frequently Leonard Walden and another named Faulkner, who provide guidance and perform tasks. There are frequent 'to do' lists, usually on the blank versos and often with tick marks next to completed items. Crick also spends substantial time in the library, recording after his May 28th visit that he 'found nothing startling'.

By May Crick's apparatus is set up and photography begins, though fiddling with the design and equipment continues. 'Played about with' becomes a constant refrain, and leaks and problems with the thermocouple emerge as recurrent issues. At one point he gives up and goes home early several days in a row, and phrases such as 'cursed and went home', 'wasted day', or 'annoying day' reoccur throughout. Only July 8th, 1938 Crick goes 'home to brood over (in theory)' a problem, 'but actually go to the theatre'. He must have been experiencing doubts about the research, but volume I ends on a positive note, 'Winter time, a cold wintry morning, and my cold nearly gone after a good weekend. Things seem much brighter, especially as the [? equipment] due any moment now'.

Between volume I and volume II the entries increase in complexity as Crick transitions from basic planning to experimenting, and in the third volume they tend to simplify again, likely reflecting the maturation of the work as well as the author's frustration and the uncertainty caused by the situation in Europe. Long, thoughtful pages are interspersed with days on which little occurs, such as March 27th, 1939, when he simply 'took readings all day. Worked on a rough value of I from three readings.' And on June 8th 'Mucked about all day, and waited for things to happen'. The final entry, dated August 12th, 1939, includes only three lines about the experiment and ends with, 'away early with Tom' at 16.50, presumably for his summer holiday. Germany invaded Poland only two weeks later, on September 1st.

Though the notebooks focus on experimental work they occasionally mention other matters, such as the weather ('beautiful, sunny morning', 'high temperature approaches'), his mood and health ('rather sleepy'; 'away yesterday with a bilious attack'), the days that Crick 'demonstrates' (or not, in the case of an exam day) and the receipt of his first cheque for doing so (noted with a rare exclamation point), as well as his holidays.

In addition to the three notebooks there are twenty monochrome photographs made during the course of the work and a twenty-eight page typescript 'Report to D.S.I.R. on Research Carried Out by F.H.C. Crick' for the academic year 1939 to 1939, with additions, corrections, and a diagram of the apparatus in Crick's hand. This report is an excellent and detailed overview of the full research project, on which little information is available in the historical record outside the institutional archives (no detail is given in either Crick's ODNB entry or the important new biography by Matthew Cobb).

The report begins with an introduction of the problem: 'Until a few years ago there was no satisfactory general formula connecting the viscosity of a liquid with temperature', and ends by explaining the modifications that 'could have been completed within a week or so, but for the outbreak of war', with Crick thanking Andrade and explaining, 'my only regret is that the completion of the experiment, a matter of a few months, was unavoidably prevented'.

The included newspaper clippings are in reference to Andrade's resignation from the directorship of the Royal Institution in 1952 following a 'series of bitter disputes' (ODNB) and so were probably collected by Walden, not Crick.

3 purpose-made notebooks with Crick's dated ownership inscriptions on the front endpapers of volumes I and II, manuscript in ink and pencil primarily on the rectos, volume 1 containing approximately 188 pages of manuscript on 146 leaves, volume II with approximately 199 pages of manuscript on 146 leaves, and volume III with approximately 64 pages of manuscript on 103 leaves. 4to; quarter burgundy skiver, marbled boards, ink stamps of H.K. Lewis & Co. stationer of Gower Street, bindings a little rubbed with wear at the extremities, particularly volume III which has loss from the head of the spine with loosening of the lower board, very good condition. Together with a 28-page report for the Department of Scientific and Industrial research, typescript, rectos only, with manuscript additions and corrections, the final leaf being a page of manuscript technical drawings, bound with cotton string and card cover labelled in a separate hand 'Crick's work for PhD'. And with two sets of 10 monochrome photographs (11 x 8.5 cm) with manuscript labels on the backs, in glassine envelopes with matching labels ("G3/C1-C10" and "G3/SC1-SC10"). And a small collection of newspaper clippings in a plain envelope.