Standing on the Shoulders of Darwin and Mendel ― Early Views of Inheritance

This book explores early theories about the mechanisms of inheritance. Beginning with Charles Darwin's now rejected Gemmule hypothesis, the book documents the reception of Gregor Mendel's work on peas and follows the work of early 20th century scholars. The research of Francis Galton, a cousin of Darwin, and the friction it caused between these two is part of longer story of the development of genetics and an understanding of how offspring inherit the characteristics of their parents. Bateson, Garrod, de Vries, Tschermak and others are all characters in a scientific story of discovery, acrimony, cooperation and revelation.

David J Galton is Professor at London University from the Departments of Molecular Genetics and Metabolism, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. He gained doctorates in Medicine (M.D. for work done at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda MD, USA) and in Science (D.Sc.). He has been elected to the Jephcott European Fellowship of the Royal Society of Medicine London, to the Erasmus European Professorship, and to the Tempus Professorship of the European Union on two occasions. He has been Chairman of Clinical Science, H.E.A.R.T. UK, secretary of the European Atherosclerosis Society, and Vice-President of the Galton Institute London, amongst other administrative posts. He has published 8 books, written more than 300 research publications on genetics of human disease and served on the editorial boards of the European Journal of Clinical Investigation, Clinical Science, Metabolism and Cardiovascular disease, and Genetics: Current Lipidology. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians London and served as consultant physician to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital and Moorfield’s Eye Hospital.