The resulting structure was the celebrated double helix, in which the two helical strands (the backbones) were made of alternating phosphates and sugars, with the paired bases attached to the sugars and making the rungs (figure 15). At this point, Watson and Crick were so convinced of the correctness of their model that they were eager to submit a short paper to Nature to announce it. Even before that, according to Watson’s by-now-famous description, Crick interrupted patrons’ lunchtime at the Eagle to make public that he and Watson had “discovered the secret of life.” Figure 16 shows the spot in the Eagle where Crick made the announcement. On March 17, 1953, Crick sent a copy of the paper to Wilkins. One of the recovered documents in Crick’s “lost” correspondence is a draft of the letter that was to accompany the manuscript. Part of it reads:

Figure 16

Dear Maurice,

I enclose a draft of our letter. As it has not yet been seen by Bragg I would be grateful if you did not show it to anyone else. The object of sending it to you at this stage is to obtain your approval of two points: