What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discovery[1] is a book published in 1988 and written by Francis Crick, the English co-discoverer in 1953 of the structure of DNA.
The main purpose of Crick's book is to describe some of his experiences before and during the "classical period" of molecular biology from the 1953 discovery of the DNA double helix to the 1966 elucidation of the genetic code.
According to the Nobel prize-winning physicist Philip W. Anderson, the basic goal of experimental science is "learning the truth about the world around us.
In spite of having heard it many times from others, the story of DNA as told by Crick still makes a marvelous read.
One sees that Crick possesses that all-important but dismayingly elusive knack of distinguishing what is significant from what is not.