Explore the roots of genetics and the science of variation and evolution through a clear, historical lens.
This edition surveys the birth of modern ideas about heredity, the rise of Mendel’s law, and the work of pioneering figures who shaped how we understand how traits pass from one generation to the next.
The book aims to make complex ideas accessible to a broad audience, with practical explanations of experiments, plant and animal crosses, and the early debates that set the stage for current genetic thinking. It also includes a short glossary to help readers grasp key terms as they encounter them in the text.
- Learn how early hybrids were tested and what they revealed about inheritance and fertility.
- See how fertilization was understood in plants when pollen and ovules unite to form seeds.
- Understand the shift from “species” to more nuanced ideas about varieties, races, and hybrids.
- Get introduced to foundational terms and concepts that recur throughout genetics and evolution.
Ideal for readers curious about the history of genetics, the development of evolutionary thought, and the practical ideas that underpin modern biology.
This 1906 work by the botanist Robert Heath Lock (1879-1915) explains contemporary evolutionary understanding, detailing the development of the study of genetics during the previous half-century, particularly at Cambridge. Covering Darwin and Mendel in particular, this remains an instructive text in the history of science.