Citations to Movies in the Books of James Watson: A Case Study.

Objectives: In a 1981 essay, renowned molecular biologist James Watson (b. 1928) wrote, "The main formative moments in my early life came from films. I went to the movies all time because they showed you something outside the south side of Chicago. Reading this rather unusual quote stimulated me to search for any additional citations to movies in his books. Methods: Specific citations to movies among Watson's seven published books were studied. Results: A total of twelve citations to movies were identified in five of his books. Nine movies were specifically named by Watson. Among these movies, maximum description by Watson was for the Gattaca (1997) movie's theme. Three un-named movies among his citations were related to Watson's dating experiences with Christa Mayr (~ June 1953), Mariette Robertson (~ Mar-April 1954) and Elizabeth Lewis (~ 1968). The last mentioned woman became his wife in 1968. Watson also mentions that the famous movie actor-director Orson Welles was a distant cousin of him. Conclusion: To the best of my knowledge, I'm not aware of an article or essay in which Watson had further expanded his thoughts on how movies influenced his creative thinking during his early years as a provocative scientist. This can be a query for Watson's future biographers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]