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William Bateson (Robin Hood's Bay, August 8, 1861 – February 8, 1926) was a British geneticist, a Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, where he eventually became Master. He was the first person to use the term genetics to describe the study of heredity and biological inheritance, and the chief populariser of the ideas of Gregor Mendel following their rediscovery in 1900 by Hugo de Vries and Carl Correns.
Career
In 1894 Bateson published Materials for the study of variation: treated with special regard to discontinuity in the origin of species, in which he catalogued unusual physical variations in animal specimens, and classified each variation as either a deviation from the expected number of a certain body part; or as one in which an expected body part has been replaced by another (which he called homeotic). The animal variations he studied included bees with legs instead of antennae; crayfish with extra oviducts; and in humans, polydactyly, extra ribs, and males with extra nipples.[1]
Bateson became famous as the outspoken Mendelian antagonist of Walter Raphael Weldon, his former teacher, and Karl Pearson who led the biometric school of thinking. This concerned the debate over saltationism versus gradualism (Darwin had been a gradualist, but Bateson was a saltationist). Later, Ronald Fisher and J.B.S. Haldane showed that discrete mutations were compatible with gradual evolution: see the modern evolutionary synthesis.
Crayon drawing by D.G. Lillie, 1909.
Bateson was the first to suggest the word "genetics" (from the Greek genno, ?e???; to give birth) to describe the study of inheritance and the science of variation in a personal letter to Adam Sedgwick, dated April 18, 1905. Bateson first used the term "genetics" publicly at the Third International Conference on Plant Hybridization in London in 1906. Although this was three years before Wilhelm Johannsen used the word "gene" to describe the units of hereditary information, De Vries had introduced the word "pangene" for the same concept already in 1889 and etymologically the word genetics finds its origin in Darwin's concept of pangenesis.
Bateson co-discovered genetic linkage with Reginald Punnett, and he and Punnett founded the Journal of Genetics in 1910. Bateson also coined the term "epistasis" to describe the genetic interaction of two independent traits.
In his later years he was a friend and confidant of the German Erwin Baur. Their correspondence includes their discussion of eugenics.
His son was the anthropologist and cyberneticist Gregory Bateson.
References
- ^ Sean B. Carroll (2005). Endless Forms most beautiful: the new science of Evo Devo. W. W. Norton. pp. 46, 48.
- Schwartz, Jeffrey H (2007), "Recognizing William Bateson's contributions.", Science 315 (5815): 1077, February 23, 2007, doi:10.1126/science.315.5815.1077b, PMID:17095659, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17095659
- Harper, Peter S (2005), "William Bateson, human genetics and medicine.", Hum. Genet. 118 (1): 141-51, 2005 October, doi:10.1007/s00439-005-0010-3, PMID:16133188, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16133188
- Hall, Brian K (2005), "Betrayed by Balanoglossus: William Bateson's rejection of evolutionary embryology as the basis for understanding evolution.", J. Exp. Zool. B Mol. Dev. Evol. 304 (1): 1-17, January 15, 2005, doi:10.1002/jez.b.21030, PMID:15668943, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15668943
- Bateson, Patrick (2002), "William Bateson: a biologist ahead of his time.", J. Genet. 81 (2): 49-58, 2002 August, PMID:12532036, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12532036
- Gillham, N W (2001), "Evolution by jumps: Francis Galton and William Bateson and the mechanism of evolutionary change.", Genetics 159 (4): 1383-92, 2001 December, PMID:11779782, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11779782
- Richmond, M L (2001), "Women in the early history of genetics. William Bateson and the Newnham College Mendelians, 1900-1910.", Isis; an international review devoted to the history of science and its cultural influences 92 (1): 55-90, 2001 March, PMID:11441497, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11441497
- Harvey, R D (1995), "Pioneers of genetics: a comparison of the attitudes of William Bateson and Erwin Baur to eugenics.", Notes and records of the Royal Society of London 49 (1): 105-17, 1995 January, PMID:11615278, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11615278
- Olby, R (1987), "William Bateson's introduction of Mendelism to England: a reassessment.", British journal for the history of science 20 (67): 399-420, 1987 October, PMID:11612343, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11612343
- Harvey, R D (1985), "The William Bateson letters at the John Innes Institute.", The Mendel newsletter; archival resources for the history of genetics & allied sciences (25): 1-11, 1985 November, PMID:11620779, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11620779
- Cock, A G (1983), "William Bateson's rejection and eventual acceptance of chromosome theory.", Annals of science 40: 19-59, 1983 January, PMID:11615930, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11615930
- Cock, A G (1980), "William Bateson's pilgrimages to Brno. Cesty Williama Batesona do Brna.", Folia mendeliana 65 (15): 243-50, PMID:11615869, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11615869
- Cook, A G (1977), "The William Bateson papers.", The Mendel newsletter; archival resources for the history of genetics & allied sciences 14: 1-4, 1977 June, PMID:11609980, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11609980
- Darden, L (1977), "William Bateson and the promise of Mendelism.", Journal of the history of biology 10 (1): 87-106, PMID:11615639, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11615639
- Cock, A G (1973), "William Bateson, Mendelism and biometry.", Journal of the history of biology 6: 1-36, PMID:11609732, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11609732
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