The Man Who Invented the Chromosome

A Life of Cyril Darlington

Oren Solomon Harman

$165.95

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Harvard Uni.Press Academi
15 June 2004

Biography: general; Mathematics & Sciences; History of science; Biology, life sciences; Genetics (non-medical)

Born by mistake, or connivance, to struggling parents in a small Lancashire cotton town in 1903, an uninspired Darlington inadvertently escaped the obscurity of farming life and rose instead, against all odds, to become within a few short years the world's greatest expert on chromosomes, and one of the most penetrating biological thinkers of the twentieth century. Harman follows Darlington's path from bleak prospects to world fame, showing how, within the most miniscule of worlds, he sought answers to the biggest questions--how species originate, how variation occurs, how Nature, both blind and foreboding, random and insightful, makes her way from deep past to unknown future. But Darlington did not stop there: Chromosomes held within their tiny confines untold, dark truths about man and his culture. This passionate conviction led the once famed Darlington down a path of rebuke, isolation, and finally obscurity.

As The Man Who Invented the Chromosome unfolds Darlington's forgotten tale--the Nazi atrocities, the Cold War, the crackpot Lysenko, the molecular revolution, eugenics, Civil Rights, the welfare state, the changing views of man's place in nature, biological determinism--all were interconnected. Just as Darlington's work provoked him to ask questions about the link between biology and culture, his life raises fundamental questions about the link between science and society.

By: Oren Solomon Harman
Imprint: Harvard Uni.Press Academi
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 32mm
Weight: 635g
ISBN: 9780674013339
ISBN 10: 0674013336
Pages: 342
Publication Date: 15 June 2004
Audience: Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , Undergraduate , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction I. Adventures in Lancashire 1. An Improbable Birth 2. A Rising Tide 3. Auspicious Beginnings 4. In Search of Tulips and Truth II. Science 5. From Cytology to Evolution 6. Roots of a Scientific Controversy 7. Method, Discipline and Character Interlude III. Politics 8. The Lysenko Affair 9. Marxism and the Slaying of a Mentor 10. Science in a Changing World IV. Man 11. The Conflict of Science and Society 12. On the Determination of Uncertainty 13. The Breakdown of Classical Genetics 14. On the Uncertainty of Determination 15. One Final Hurrah Conclusion: Paradoxes Bibliography Index

Oren Solomon Harman is Lady Davis Fellow at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Lecturer at Bar-Ilan University.

Reviews for The Man Who Invented the Chromosome: A Life of Cyril Darlington

As Oren Solomon Harman shows in The Man Who Invented the Chromosome , Darlington's controversial cytological research clarified many basic biological issues and provided essential evidence for the evolutionary synthesis of the 1940s. He 'invented' the chromosome by describing its behaviour in a way that made genetic and evolutionary sense...A strong commitment to an evolutionary perspective led Darlington to some unpopular conclusions, which he published in books and articles aimed at a wide audience. Convinced that biological principles, especially genetics, dictate human values, he espoused strong eugenic programmes...He felt that the time had come for science to determine morality: religion and politics should be replaced by evolutionary logic for individuals, countries and humanity...Harman provides a cautionary tale for those who seek to tie our humanity too closely to what is found in our chromosomes. -- Rena Selya Nature (09/30/2004)