While aware of the works of various evolutionists in their dotage (Galton, Wallace, Weismann), initially Bateson is likely to have overlooked Hugo de Vries' Intracellular Pangenesis. De Vries modified Darwin's hypothesis of pangenesis, according the elements, or pangens that corresponded to individual characters, attributes that we now know to be those of genes. Darwin thought a character acquired during an individual's life time, could, by virtue of the transfer of the corresponding educated pangens (gemmules), be passed on to its children. However, experiments by Galton and Heape d- proved his belief that the pangens could move from normal tissue cells to - nadal cells. Like Weismann, Galton saw the potentially immortal germ-line (stored in the ovary or testis) as distinct from the soma (the mortal remainder of the body). Since gametes remained the same size from generation to g- eration, then each parent could on average only transmit half its elements to a child, the other half being lost. This meant that there might be competition between elements for representation in future generations. Ancestral ch- acters that disappeared and later reappeared were due to latent (hidden) elements. These were distinguished from the patent (overt) elements that determined characters regularly seen in the offspring. Both elements were in the gametes as primary elements. The latent elements constituted a re- due that remained after separation of patent elements from the primary elements. Galton downplayed the role of Darwin's natural selection.

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 So far biohistorians have failed to come up with a comprehensive biography of William Bateson. In 1986 William Provine concluded: Evolutionary biology in the period 1859-1925 is extraordinary complex. To understand this period we must understand Bateson Many books of this nature are written by historians of science who are often able to provide an attractive narrative, but are less able to untangle the more controversial aspects of the science. The present book is written by two card carrying bioscientists who, relatively late in their careers, turned to biohistory while remaining at the cutting edge of their disciplines. For several decades the Bateson papers languished in the attic of an outhouse at Hancock in New Hampshire, until repatriated by Alan Cock in 1975 with the help of Stephen Jay Gould

Klappentext

William Bateson brought the work of Mendel (and much more) to the attention of the English-speaking world. He commanded the biological sciences in the decades after Darwin's death in 1882. To understand these years we must first understand Bateson. Through examination of the life of a major contributor to the turn-of-the-century revolution in biology, the authors of this volume reconcile the genocentrism of George Williams and Richard Dawkins with the hierarchical thinking of Richard Goldschmidt and Stephen Jay Gould. The anti-Darwinian arguments of Bateson are only now, a century later, gaining recognition. At last, Evolutionists can present a unified front to their creationist opponents.

Inhalt
Genesis of a Geneticist.- A Cambridge Childhood (1861#x2013;1882).- From Virginia to the Aral Sea (1883#x2013;1889).- Galton.- Variation (1890#x2013;1894).- Romanes.- Reorientation and Controversy (1895#x2013;1899).- What Life May Be.- Mendelism.- Rediscovery (1900#x2013;1901).- Mendel#x0027;s Bulldog (1902#x2013;1906).- Bateson#x0027;s Bulldog.- On Course (1907#x2013;1908).- Darwin Centenary (1909).- Chromosomes.- The Innes Years.- Passages (1910#x2013;1914).- Eugenics.- War (1915#x2013;1919).- My Respectful Homage (1920#x2013;1922).- Limits Undetermined (1923#x2013;1926).- Politics.- Butler.- Pilgrimages.- The Kammerer Affair.- Science and Chauvinism.- Degrees for Women.- Eclipse.- Bashing.- Epilogue.