The Origins of Theoretical Population Genetics: With a New Afterword / Edition 2

by William B. Provine

Overview

Tracing the development of population genetics through the writings of such luminaries as Darwin, Galton, Pearson, Fisher, Haldane, and Wright, William B. Provine sheds light on this complex field as well as its bearing on other branches of biology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226684642
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	05/01/2001
Series:	Chicago History of Science and Medicine Series
Edition description:	1
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

William B. Provine is the C. A. Alexander Professor of Biological Sciences at Cornell University. He is the author of Sewall Wright and Evolutionary Biology and the editor of Evolution: Selected Papers by Sewall Wright, both published by the University of Chicago Press.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION
1. DARWIN'S THEORY OF NATURAL SELECTION: THE RE-
ACTION
DARWIN'S THEORY
THE REACTION

2. BACKGROUND TO THE CONFLICT BETWEEN MENDELIANS
AND BIOMETRICIANS
KARL PEARSON: A SKETCH OF HIS EARLY LIFE
WELDON, PEARSON, AND BIOMETRY
WILLIAM BATESON AND DISCONTINUOUS EVOLUTION
THE PUBLIC CONTROVERSIES

3. THE CONFLICT BETWEEN MENDELIANS AND BIOMETRI-
CIANS
THE HOMOTYPOSIS CONTROVERSY
THE MUTATION THEORY
INHERITANCE IN PEAS
HEREDITY IN MICE
MENDELISM AND BIOMETRY
MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION, 1904
COAT COLOR IN HORSES
THE EFFECTS OF THE CONFLICT

4. DARWINIAN SELECTION: THE CONTROVERSY, 1900-1918
THE ARGUMENT AGAINST DARWINIAN SELECTION
THE PROOF AND EXPLANATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS
OF SELECTION

5. POPULATION GENETICS: THE SYNTHESIS OF MENDELISM,
DARWINISM, AND BIOMETRY
EXPLORATION OF THE MATHEMATICAL CONSEQUENCES
OF MENDELIAN HEREDITY BEFORE 1918
RONALD ALYMER FISHER
SEWALL WRIGHT
J.B.S. HALDANE
CONCLUSIONS
APPENDIX: GALTON, PEARSON, AND THE LAW OF ANCESTRAL
HEREDITY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
AFTERWORD
INDEX

Editorial Reviews

"This reprint . . . will be welcome to all those who have used the book to introduce ourselves (first) and many generations of students to aspects of the evolutionary synthesis. Provine's text was written in a clear, lucid style that made the mathematical concepts  . . . as well as the evolutionary and genetic principles involved, understandable even to non-biology majors."

History of Philosophy and Life Science - Garland E. Allen

This reprint . . . will be welcome to all those who have used the book to introduce ourselves (first) and many generations of students to aspects of the evolutionary synthesis. Provine's text was written in a clear, lucid style that made the mathematical concepts  . . . as well as the evolutionary and genetic principles involved, understandable even to non-biology majors.

— Garland E. Allen

History of Philosophy and Life Science