Mendel's Legacy: The Origin of Classical Genetics

This latest book by Elof Carlson (The Unfit) is a first history of classical genetics, the era in which the chromosome theory of heredity was proposed and developed. Highly illustrated and based heavily on early 20th century original sources, the book traces the roots of genetics in breeding analysis and studies of cytology, evolution, and reproductive biology that began in Europe but were synthesized in the United States through new Ph.D. programs and expanded academic funding. Carlson argues that, influenced largely by new technologies and instrumentation, the life sciences progressed though incremental change rather than paradigm shifts, and he describes how molecular biology emerged from the key ideas and model systems of classical genetics. Readable and original, this narrative will interest historians and science educators as well as today's practitioners of genetics.

Elof Axel Carlson (born 1931) was raised in Brooklyn, New York, and attended New York University for his B.A. degree. He went to Indiana University to study genetics with Nobelist H. J. Muller, completing his Ph.D. in 1958. He then took a position as Lecturer at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and in 1960 accepted a position at UCLA where he sponsored six students for their Ph.D. degrees. In 1968, Carlson moved to Stony Brook University and in 1974 he was awarded the statewide title of Distinguished Teaching Professor. He retired from Stony Brook University in 2000 and moved to Bloomington, Indiana, where he is a Visiting Scholar in Indiana University's Institute for Advanced Study. Carlson is a geneticist, historian of science, and writer. He has authored or edited 13 books, including The Gene: A Critical History; Genes, Radiation, and Society: the Life and Work of H. J. Muller; The Unfit: A History of a Bad Idea; Mendel's Legacy: A History of Classical Genetics; and The 7 Sexes: Biology of Sex Determination. He also has written a science column, Life Lines, which has appeared since 1997 in the North Shore Long Island newspapers of publisher Leah Dunaieff. Carlson is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and recipient, in 1972, of the Harbison Award for Gifted Teaching from the Danforth foundation. He is married to Nedra (née Miller) Carlson and they have five children, 12 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.