List of Illustrations Preface 1. Viva Pangenesis 2. Reversion to the Mean 3. Galton's Disciples 4. Pangenes 5. Mendel 6. Rediscovery 7. Mendel Wars I 8. Cell Biology 9. Sex Chromosomes 10. The Fly Room 11. Oenothera Reconsidered 12. X-rays 13. Mendel Wars II Epilogue Notes Index
This is science for the intelligent general reader as it ought to be written and seldom is: where the scientists are flesh and blood human beings who struggle, fail, compete, rejoice, despair, go down wrong paths and finally stumble, in stages, upon a radically new way of seeing the natural world. A fascinating and readable odyssey that ranges from Texas to Holland to Stalin's prisons and reminds us how hard-won scientific knowledge is. -- Adam Hochschild. author of Bury the Chains and King Leopold's Ghost If you have ever wondered what goes on in a genetics lab, here is the answer! In this sparkling and timely book James Schwartz reveals the remarkable history of the gene from its nineteenth-century origins as an entirely imaginary concept to the modern belief that life itself rests in these awe-inspiring combinations of molecules. For at first it was not at all evident that genes might exist--were they real, were they needed, where might they be located? Bit by bit, the concept turned into a reality that came to serve as the foundation stone of the revolutionary new science of genetics. Schwartz writes with wonderful insight about the personalities, rivalries, politics, and obsessions that increasingly drove scientists forward in pursuit of the gene's identity in research labs and workplaces across the globe. Moving from Charles Darwin and his cousin Francis Galton, who searched fruitlessly for particles carrying inherited traits in domestic animals, through Thomas Hunt Morgan's famous "fly room' at Columbia University in New York, with grand stories of Morgan's blatant favoritism and unfinished research projects, on to the race to discover the structure of DNA, the rise of modern genomics, and the recent millennial achievement of mapping our own genome, Schwartz describes the people who made the science of genetics what it is today. Nobel prizes glittered for some, devastating depression for others. Based on original research and unexplored letters and archives, this is a very readable account of science in action. Throughout, there was unstinting commitment to scientific ideals, eloquently reflected in Hermann Muller's plan to take a suitcase of the latest experimental flies from New York to geneticists isolated in post-revolutionary Russia. This is the story of the rise of big science. But it is also the story of human lives, of men and women engaged in a great combined undertaking that shows the passion and creative artistry that scientists brought to their work. Accurate, lively, and packed full with incident, this book is a triumph of science writing. -- Janet Browne, author of Charles Darwin: Voyaging and Charles Darwin: The Power of Place In Pursuit of the Gene is a wonderful book, and arrives at just the right time. With genetic discoveries being made on a daily basis, it is critical we understand how current progress in genetics represents a continuation of the century-long search to understand the genetics of complex traits. Schwartz's book is very important, and deserves a wide readership and attention. -- David Altshuler, Director, Broad Institute's of Harvard and MIT's Program in Medical and Population Genetics This book is magnificent and captivating in its use of largely unpublished correspondence, largely unpublished, to reveal as a way to see scientists as human beings with feelings, intrigue and emotions riding high. Schwartz gets right into the essentials of the way the gene concept evolved - bit by bit and with a lot of failed ideas along the way. The experiments are handled with superb attention to pertinent detail and to what those experiments revealed. The story builds chapter by chapter as Schwartz's sleuthing leads the reader to wonder what will happen next as ideas and personalities clash. -- Elof Carlson, Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus, Stony Brook University Through his careful reading of original sources, many previously ignored or unknown, biologist-mathematician-science writer James Schwartz has produced a superb history of the gene and the chromosomes -- from Darwin, Galton, Mendel and the early cell-biologists up to the discovery of the DNA double helix. -- Matthew Meselson, Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences, Harvard University In Pursuit of the Gene is far better than anything now in print for the generalist reader.Schwartz knows the literature on the history of genetics well and he is good at explaining what can sometimes be very abstruse scientific arguments clearly. Even the statistical sections are crystal clear. All of this is conveyed to the specialist reader with a light touch-while at the same time managing not to overwhelm the generalist reader. -- Ruth Schwartz Cowan, Janice and Julian Bers Professor, University of Pennsylvania
James Schwartz is an independent scholar and writer living in Brookline, Massachusetts.
This is science for the intelligent general reader as it ought to
be written and seldom is: where the scientists are flesh and blood
human beings who struggle, fail, compete, rejoice, despair, go down
wrong paths and finally stumble, in stages, upon a radically new
way of seeing the natural world. A fascinating and readable odyssey
that ranges from Texas to Holland to Stalin's prisons and reminds
us how hard-won scientific knowledge is.
*Adam Hochschild. author of Bury the Chains and King Leopold's
Ghost*
If you have ever wondered what goes on in a genetics lab, here is
the answer! In this sparkling and timely book James Schwartz
reveals the remarkable history of the gene from its
nineteenth-century origins as an entirely imaginary concept to the
modern belief that life itself rests in these awe-inspiring
combinations of molecules. For at first it was not at all evident
that genes might exist--were they real, were they needed, where
might they be located? Bit by bit, the concept turned into a
reality that came to serve as the foundation stone of the
revolutionary new science of genetics. Schwartz writes with
wonderful insight about the personalities, rivalries, politics, and
obsessions that increasingly drove scientists forward in pursuit of
the gene's identity in research labs and workplaces across the
globe. Moving from Charles Darwin and his cousin Francis Galton,
who searched fruitlessly for particles carrying inherited traits in
domestic animals, through Thomas Hunt Morgan's famous "fly room' at
Columbia University in New York, with grand stories of Morgan's
blatant favoritism and unfinished research projects, on to the race
to discover the structure of DNA, the rise of modern genomics, and
the recent millennial achievement of mapping our own genome,
Schwartz describes the people who made the science of genetics what
it is today. Nobel prizes glittered for some, devastating
depression for others. Based on original research and unexplored
letters and archives, this is a very readable account of science in
action. Throughout, there was unstinting commitment to scientific
ideals, eloquently reflected in Hermann Muller's plan to take a
suitcase of the latest experimental flies from New York to
geneticists isolated in post-revolutionary Russia. This is the
story of the rise of big science. But it is also the story of human
lives, of men and women engaged in a great combined undertaking
that shows the passion and creative artistry that scientists
brought to their work. Accurate, lively, and packed full with
incident, this book is a triumph of science writing.
*Janet Browne, author of Charles Darwin: Voyaging and Charles
Darwin: The Power of Place*
In Pursuit of the Gene is a wonderful book, and arrives at just the
right time. With genetic discoveries being made on a daily basis,
it is critical we understand how current progress in genetics
represents a continuation of the century-long search to understand
the genetics of complex traits. Schwartz's book is very important,
and deserves a wide readership and attention.
*David Altshuler, Director, Broad Institute's of Harvard and MIT's
Program in Medical and Population Genetics*
This book is magnificent and captivating in its use of largely
unpublished correspondence, largely unpublished, to reveal as a way
to see scientists as human beings with feelings, intrigue and
emotions riding high. Schwartz gets right into the essentials of
the way the gene concept evolved – bit by bit and with a lot of
failed ideas along the way. The experiments are handled with superb
attention to pertinent detail and to what those experiments
revealed. The story builds chapter by chapter as Schwartz's
sleuthing leads the reader to wonder what will happen next as ideas
and personalities clash.
*Elof Carlson, Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus, Stony
Brook University*
Through his careful reading of original sources, many previously
ignored or unknown, biologist-mathematician-science writer James
Schwartz has produced a superb history of the gene and the
chromosomes -- from Darwin, Galton, Mendel and the early
cell-biologists up to the discovery of the DNA double helix.
*Matthew Meselson, Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of the Natural
Sciences, Harvard University*
In Pursuit of the Gene is far better than anything now in print for
the generalist reader.Schwartz knows the literature on the history
of genetics well and he is good at explaining what can sometimes be
very abstruse scientific arguments clearly. Even the statistical
sections are crystal clear. All of this is conveyed to the
specialist reader with a light touch—while at the same time
managing not to overwhelm the generalist reader.
*Ruth Schwartz Cowan, Janice and Julian Bers Professor, University
of Pennsylvania*
Understanding the nature of genetic inheritance was essential for
evolution to be accepted as the dominant paradigm in biology. In a
masterful work, science writer Schwartz looks at the science and
the personalities behind that understanding, ranging from Darwin's
belief in pangenesis to explain the inheritance of physical
variations to Hermann Muller's Nobel Prize–winning work on X-rays
and genetic mutation. Although he discusses the contributions of
such luminaries as Francis Galton, William Bateson, Gregor Mendel,
Hugo de Vries and Thomas Hunt Morgan, Schwartz provides far more
than character sketches. In a thoroughly accessible manner, he
offers insight into the critical experiments each undertook and
allows readers to share the excitement of discovery. He also does a
fabulous job of demonstrating the social nature of science, showing
how competition often leads to unseemly actions and how the
unwillingness to part with a favorite theory leads to an
idiosyncratic interpretation of data. Schwartz illustrates how,
despite all of this, science continues to make progress and our
understanding of the world continues to grow. Although the history
of genetics has been covered many times before, Schwartz brings
unbridled energy, strong writing and a fresh perspective.
*Publishers Weekly (starred review)*
Often described as a noble quest for the truth, science can also be
messy and duplicitous--never more so, as this book reveals, than in
the search for the key to heredity, the gene. Yet rarely has
science involved such inspiring and passionate figures--Mendel,
Bateson, Morgan, Muller--whose names we may recognize but whose
personal tales are relatively little told. Here is the 100-year
story of genetics with the setbacks and breakthroughs carefully
explained, and the human story--including spells in Soviet prison
camps and suicide attempts--thrillingly evoked.
*New Scientist*
What distinguishes Schwartz‘s account is his impeccable
scholarship, based on many primary sources, and his ability to keep
the narrative moving, interweaving discoveries with the strong and
eccentric personalities who made them...In Pursuit of the Gene
should be required reading for all biologists unfamiliar with the
history of genetics. Schwartz shows how quickly science can advance
when a group of first-class minds encounters a fertile but
unploughed field.
*Nature*
What makes this account so novel and definitely worth reading is
its fine study of character, based primarily on a sensitive reading
of original documents. As a result, some of the leading well-known
figures in the history of genetics come across in a very different
light that leads to a rethinking of existing historical
understanding.
*Journal of Heredity*
This is science for the intelligent general reader as it ought to
be written and seldom is: where the scientists are flesh and blood
human beings who struggle, fail, compete, rejoice, despair, go down
wrong paths and finally stumble, in stages, upon a radically new
way of seeing the natural world. A fascinating and readable odyssey
that ranges from Texas to Holland to Stalin's prisons and reminds
us how hard-won scientific knowledge is. -- Adam Hochschild. author
of Bury the Chains and King Leopold's Ghost
If you have ever wondered what goes on in a genetics lab, here is
the answer! In this sparkling and timely book James Schwartz
reveals the remarkable history of the gene from its
nineteenth-century origins as an entirely imaginary concept to the
modern belief that life itself rests in these awe-inspiring
combinations of molecules. For at first it was not at all evident
that genes might exist--were they real, were they needed, where
might they be located? Bit by bit, the concept turned into a
reality that came to serve as the foundation stone of the
revolutionary new science of genetics. Schwartz writes with
wonderful insight about the personalities, rivalries, politics, and
obsessions that increasingly drove scientists forward in pursuit of
the gene's identity in research labs and workplaces across the
globe. Moving from Charles Darwin and his cousin Francis Galton,
who searched fruitlessly for particles carrying inherited traits in
domestic animals, through Thomas Hunt Morgan's famous "fly room' at
Columbia University in New York, with grand stories of Morgan's
blatant favoritism and unfinished research projects, on to the race
to discover the structure of DNA, the rise of modern genomics, and
the recent millennial achievement of mapping our own genome,
Schwartz describes the people who made the science of genetics what
it is today. Nobel prizes glittered for some, devastating
depression for others. Based on original research and unexplored
letters and archives, this is a very readable account of science in
action. Throughout, there was unstinting commitment to scientific
ideals, eloquently reflected in Hermann Muller's plan to take a
suitcase of the latest experimental flies from New York to
geneticists isolated in post-revolutionary Russia. This is the
story of the rise of big science. But it is also the story of human
lives, of men and women engaged in a great combined undertaking
that shows the passion and creative artistry that scientists
brought to their work. Accurate, lively, and packed full with
incident, this book is a triumph of science writing. -- Janet
Browne, author of Charles Darwin: Voyaging and Charles Darwin: The
Power of Place
In Pursuit of the Gene is a wonderful book, and arrives at
just the right time. With genetic discoveries being made on a daily
basis, it is critical we understand how current progress in
genetics represents a continuation of the century-long search to
understand the genetics of complex traits. Schwartz's book is very
important, and deserves a wide readership and attention. -- David
Altshuler, Director, Broad Institute's of Harvard and MIT's Program
in Medical and Population Genetics
This book is magnificent and captivating in its use of largely
unpublished correspondence, largely unpublished, to reveal as a way
to see scientists as human beings with feelings, intrigue and
emotions riding high. Schwartz gets right into the essentials of
the way the gene concept evolved - bit by bit and with a lot of
failed ideas along the way. The experiments are handled with superb
attention to pertinent detail and to what those experiments
revealed. The story builds chapter by chapter as Schwartz's
sleuthing leads the reader to wonder what will happen next as ideas
and personalities clash. -- Elof Carlson, Distinguished Teaching
Professor Emeritus, Stony Brook University
Through his careful reading of original sources, many previously
ignored or unknown, biologist-mathematician-science writer James
Schwartz has produced a superb history of the gene and the
chromosomes -- from Darwin, Galton, Mendel and the early
cell-biologists up to the discovery of the DNA double helix. --
Matthew Meselson, Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of the Natural
Sciences, Harvard University
In Pursuit of the Gene is far better than anything now in
print for the generalist reader.Schwartz knows the literature on
the history of genetics well and he is good at explaining what can
sometimes be very abstruse scientific arguments clearly. Even the
statistical sections are crystal clear. All of this is conveyed to
the specialist reader with a light touch-while at the same time
managing not to overwhelm the generalist reader. -- Ruth Schwartz
Cowan, Janice and Julian Bers Professor, University of
Pennsylvania
Understanding the nature of genetic inheritance was essential for
evolution to be accepted as the dominant paradigm in biology. In a
masterful work, science writer Schwartz looks at the science and
the personalities behind that understanding, ranging from Darwin's
belief in pangenesis to explain the inheritance of physical
variations to Hermann Muller's Nobel Prize-winning work on X-rays
and genetic mutation. Although he discusses the contributions of
such luminaries as Francis Galton, William Bateson, Gregor Mendel,
Hugo de Vries and Thomas Hunt Morgan, Schwartz provides far more
than character sketches. In a thoroughly accessible manner, he
offers insight into the critical experiments each undertook and
allows readers to share the excitement of discovery. He also does a
fabulous job of demonstrating the social nature of science, showing
how competition often leads to unseemly actions and how the
unwillingness to part with a favorite theory leads to an
idiosyncratic interpretation of data. Schwartz illustrates how,
despite all of this, science continues to make progress and our
understanding of the world continues to grow. Although the history
of genetics has been covered many times before, Schwartz brings
unbridled energy, strong writing and a fresh perspective. *
Publishers Weekly (starred review) *
Often described as a noble quest for the truth, science can also be
messy and duplicitous--never more so, as this book reveals, than in
the search for the key to heredity, the gene. Yet rarely has
science involved such inspiring and passionate figures--Mendel,
Bateson, Morgan, Muller--whose names we may recognize but whose
personal tales are relatively little told. Here is the 100-year
story of genetics with the setbacks and breakthroughs carefully
explained, and the human story--including spells in Soviet prison
camps and suicide attempts--thrillingly evoked. -- Rowan Hooper *
New Scientist *
What distinguishes Schwartz's account is his impeccable
scholarship, based on many primary sources, and his ability to keep
the narrative moving, interweaving discoveries with the strong and
eccentric personalities who made them...In Pursuit of the
Gene should be required reading for all biologists unfamiliar
with the history of genetics. Schwartz shows how quickly science
can advance when a group of first-class minds encounters a fertile
but unploughed field. -- Jerry A. Coyne * Nature *
What makes this account so novel and definitely worth reading is
its fine study of character, based primarily on a sensitive reading
of original documents. As a result, some of the leading well-known
figures in the history of genetics come across in a very different
light that leads to a rethinking of existing historical
understanding. -- Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis * Journal of Heredity
*
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