William Bateson and the promise of Mendelism.

Abstract

William Bateson is often called the founder of genetics. This title is not unwarranted considering the extensive work he carried on in the years following 1900. Upon reading Hugo de Vries's paper on the rediscovery of Mendel's work in that year, Bateson immediately saw, to an extent that de Vries did not, the promise for future research of the law of segregation or, as Bateson called it, Mendel's Law; for the problems of heredity and variation on which he himself had already begun work could now be approached with important new conceptions. Adopting this law, therefore, with enthusiasm, he began work to verify it experimentally and to extend it to other organisms. Not only did he direct his own work along these promising new lines; he also took up the role of vocal proponent of Mendel's views. His many tasks showed his new concern: translating Mendel's original papers; defending Mendelism against all opponents, especially the biometricians who advocated Francis Galton's law of ancestral heredity and opposed Mendelism; interesting a group of students to join him in his new research, the most well-known being E. R. Saunders and R. C. Punnett; and, finally, coining new terminology for the new conceptions and the new field that he christened "Genetics. ''~ These new conceptions are set forth explicitly in his 1902 book Mendel's Principles o f Heredity A Defense. After a discussion of Mendel's experiments with peas and the 3:1 results, Bateson said: