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This biography provides an understanding of William Bateson as well as a reconciliation of diverging views (e.g. the hierarchical thinking of Gould and the genocentrism of George Williams and Richard Dawkins). Evolutionists may thus, at long last, present a unified front to their creationist opponents. The pressing need for this text is apparent from the high percentages reported not to believe in evolution and the growth of the so-called "intelligent design" movement.
List of contents
Abbreviations.- Prologue.- Part I. Genesis of a Geneticist.- A Cambridge Childhood (1861-1882).- From Virginia to the Aral Sea (1883-1889).-Galton.- Variation (1890-1894).- Romanes.- Reorientation and Controversy (1895-1899).- What Life May Be.- Part II. Mendelism.- Rediscovery (1900-1901).- Mendel s Bulldog (1902-1906).- Bateson s Bulldog.- 11 On Course (1907-1908).- Darwin Centenary (1909).- Chromosomes.- Part III. The Innes Years.- Passages (1910-1914).- Eugenics.- War (1915-1919).- My Respectful Homage (1920-1922).- Limits Undetermined (1923-1926).- Part IV. Politics.- Butler.- Pilgrimages.- Kammerer.- Science and Chauvinism.- Degrees for Women.- Part V. Eclipse.- Bashing.- Epilogue.- Appendix.- Publications of William Bateson.- References and Notes.- Acknowledgements.- Index.
Report
From the reviews:
"This work includes key events in Bateson's career and is strengthened by discussion of the rediscovery of Mendelian principles by early-20th-century geneticists. ... this interesting work will appeal to biologists and historians of science. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections." (J. S. Schwartz, Choice, Vol. 46 (7), March, 2009)
"The presnt book is particularly welcome in helping to fill a significant gap in the history of genetics ... . Donald Forsdyke has now extended and completed the book, a major undertaking for which both geneticists and historians should be grateful." (Peter S. Harper, Human Genetics, Vol. 125, 2009)
"This volume will be of enormous benefit to historians of science who like to follow how ideas are born or die and why participants of different sides of each controversy held such rigid views of their own work and saw little merit in their competitor's research. ... I recommend reading all 745 pages of this biography. It is worth the effort ... ." (Elof Axel Carlson, The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol. 84, December, 2009)
"Cock and Forsdyke's detailed scientific biography of Bateson is very timely. ... a fascinating read and well worth the effort. It is a splendid addition to the several good historical works on genetics that have appeared in recent years and also serves as a salutary reminder that great ideas in science have a habit of being successively reborn, often in superficially different forms and guises ... . serve as a pragmatic impetus for all scientists to carefully study the history of their respective fields." (Amitabh Joshi, Journal of Genetics, Vol. 89 (4), December, 2010)
