Haldane, Mayr, and Beanbag Genetics
"This volume continues (Dronamraju's) contributions to our collective understanding of Haldane's work and influence. His book uses one exchange between Haldane and Mayr around 1950 as the reference point. From there, he takes us backwards and forwards in the history of evolutionary biology. We're offered a complex picture of how these two experts worked to balance the usefulness of simple models with the reality of complexity in genetic systems. The gem of the book is the appendix, which compiles correspondence between Haldane and Mayr, 1947-1964. Here, the personalities and substantive issues shine brightly." -- Dr. Joe Cain, Department of Science and Technology Studies, University College London"This interplay of ideas about 'beanbag genetics' between J.B.S. Haldane and Ernst Mayr is both rewarding and stimulating. It reminds us of how ideas change as new fields emerge and how debates need not lead to enmities but actually benefit the minds of two friends who agree to disagree. Historians of science, geneticists, evolutionary biologists, and those who enjoy reading about the way ideas evolve will find hours of pleasure reading Dronamraju's analysis and presentation of their lives and work."--Prof. Elof Axel Carlson, Distinguished Teaching Professor, Emeritus, Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Stony Brook University, New York"A fine job of synthesizing a great deal of material and makingsense out of it. This was a very interesting argument, carried on ina friendly way at a high intellectual plane."--Prof. James F. Crow, University of Wisconsin at Madison"It is a short, clearly written and interesting read." --Investigative Genetics"The inclusion of these original sources as well as the author's reliance on scientific articles contemporary to the 'beanbag genetics' debate should prove interesting to anyone in the scientific community who wishes to explore a significant moment in the history of our understanding of genes." --Quarterly Review of Biology, Chicago