The Double Helix

by

James D. Watson

Herman Kalckar Character Analysis

Herman Kalckar was a prominent Danish biochemist who studied DNA in the early 1950s. Watson’s postdoctoral fellowship was intended to fund him to work in Kalckar’s lab and learn about biochemistry. However, Watson found Kalckar boring, indifferent, and impossible to understand. As a result, he spent the rest of his time in Copenhagen studying phages in Ole Maaløe’s lab instead.

Herman Kalckar Quotes in The Double Helix

The The Double Helix quotes below are all either spoken by Herman Kalckar or refer to Herman Kalckar . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Research, Adventure, and the Thrill of Discovery Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

I proceeded to forget Maurice, but not his DNA photograph. A potential key to the secret of life was impossible to push out of my mind. The fact that I was unable to interpret it did not bother me. It was certainly better to imagine myself becoming famous than maturing into a stifled academic who had never risked a thought.

Related Characters: James D. Watson (speaker), Maurice Wilkins , Herman Kalckar
Page Number: 35
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Double Helix LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Double Helix PDF

Herman Kalckar Quotes in The Double Helix

The The Double Helix quotes below are all either spoken by Herman Kalckar or refer to Herman Kalckar . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Research, Adventure, and the Thrill of Discovery Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

I proceeded to forget Maurice, but not his DNA photograph. A potential key to the secret of life was impossible to push out of my mind. The fact that I was unable to interpret it did not bother me. It was certainly better to imagine myself becoming famous than maturing into a stifled academic who had never risked a thought.

Related Characters: James D. Watson (speaker), Maurice Wilkins , Herman Kalckar
Page Number: 35
Explanation and Analysis: