If you dig science, you know who James Watson is. You may also know him if you dig nooses and burning crosses. See, James is straight-up racist. And to cover his bases, he’s sexist, too.
What’s interesting (to me, at least) about James is that he’s one of the world’s most celebrated scientists. To understand his prejudices is to understand that even a great scientific mind is a human mind, vulnerable to the same petty, base, hurtful failings we all have. Even my fascination with his extreme views is a product of a bias, I suppose. Shouldn’t men and women of great ideas somehow rise above all this? Find me the cancer gene, James; I know you have a book coming out, but don’t pull a Coulter here just to boost sales.