Heredity Before Mendel Festetics and the Question of Sheep's Wool in Central Europe

About this book

The history of science is replete with untold stories and this book is one of these accounts. The author shares a narrative of heredity, an active topic of inquiry long before Gregor Mendel – the father of genetics – planted his peas. One such interlude unfolded in Mendel's home city and involved the sheep breeder, Imre Festetics. He sought to improve wool and proposed important rules of heredity. Unfortunately, aspects of wool quality, now known to be polygenic, complicate interpretations of the work of Festetics and explain why it is neglected. The forebearers of Mendel never get the credit they deserve. Heredity Before Mendel resurrects Festetics, the grandfather of heredity.

Contents

Prologue
Author Biography
Acknowledgments
Introduction

1. The Enigma of Heredity
2. Sheep and Heredity
3. From Sheep to Peas
4. The Legacy of Imre Festetics

Summary
Epilogue

Appendix 1: The Opinion of J. M. Ehrenfels About Inbreeding
Appendix 2: Explanations of Emmerich Festetics About Inbreeding
Appendix 3: Explanations of Christian Carl and Rudolph Andre
Appendix 4: Festetics’s Letter to Hugo Salm
Appendix 5: J. K. Nestler’s Lecture About Procreation and Heredity
Appendix 6: F. Diebl’s Lecture About the Formation of Wheat Varieties
Appendix 7: Hempel’s Paper About Artificial Fertilization

Abbreviations
References
Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

Péter Poczai is a Curator at the Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Finland. He received his PhD from the University of Pannonia, Keszthely, Hungary. He is the author or co-author of dozens of scientific peer-reviewed journal articles.