Recognition
In 1960 he was presented with the American Public Health Association's Albert Lasker Award, and in 1962 he was made a Commander of the British Empire. Also in 1962 he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Watson and Crick for the discovery of the structure of DNA.
On Saturday 20 October 1962 the award of Nobel prizes to John Kendrew and Max Perutz, and to Crick, Watson, and Wilkins was satirised in a short sketch in the BBC TV programme That Was The Week That Was with the Nobel Prizes being referred to as 'The Alfred Nobel Peace Pools.'
In 1969, Wilkins became the founding President of the British Society for Social Responsibility in Science.
In 2000, King's College London opened the Franklin-Wilkins Building in honour of Dr. Franklin's and Professor Wilkins' work at the college.
The wording on the DNA sculpture (donated by James Watson) outside Clare College's Thirkill Court, Cambridge, England is
a) on the base:
- i) "These strands unravel during cell reproduction. Genes are encoded in the sequence of bases."
- ii) "The double helix model was supported by the work of Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins."
b) on the helices:
- i) "The structure of DNA was discovered in 1953 by Francis Crick and James Watson while Watson lived here at Clare."
- ii) "The molecule of DNA has two helical strands that are linked by base pairs Adenine – Thymine or Guanine – Cytosine."
Read more about this topic: Maurice Wilkins
Famous quotes containing the word recognition:
“Democracy and equality try to deny ... the mystic recognition of difference and innate priority, the joy of obedience and the sacred responsibility of authority.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“Tragedy, as you know, is always a fait accompli, whereas terror always has to do with anticipation, with man’s recognition of his own negative potential—with his sense of what he is capable of.”
—Joseph Brodsky (b. 1940)
“That the world can be improved and yet must be celebrated as it is are contradictions. The beginning of maturity may be the recognition that both are true.”
—William Stott (b. 1940)