Women in the Early History of Genetics: William Bateson and the Newnham College Mendelians, 1900-1910

Abstract

William Bateson was one of the pivotal figures in the early history of genetics, having championed the promise of Mendelism to unravel the secrets of heredity. Many refer to the "school" of genetics he directed at Cambridge between 1900 and 1910, but few note that Bateson's group consisted primarily of women. Bateson turned to botanists, zoologists, and physiologists associated with Newnham College, Cambridge, for critical assistance in advancing his research program at a time when Mendelism was not yet recognized as a legitimate field of study. Cambridge women carried out a series of breeding experiments in a number of plant and animal species between 1902 and 1910, the results of which provided crucial evidence that both supported and extended Mendel's laws of heredity. This essay shows how the situation of women in science in the early twentieth century was a factor--along with scientific, institutional, social, and political developments--in establishing the new discipline of genetics.

Women, science and suffrage in World War I

“…They were, perhaps, astute enough to recognize that female researchers who had reached such an advanced level must have been of an exceptionally high calibre; they could also be employed more cheaply than men to perform the same work. 28 For women outside universities or other formal institutions, the absence of contact networks was felt still more strongly, especially as most scientific societies still did not accept women. 29 Although working in different countries, Hertha Ayrton and Marie Curie became close friends, both of them scientific wives of scientific husbands, both of them isolated as women in an overwhelmingly male environment.…”

Charles Darwin Solves the “Riddle of the Flower”; Or, Why Don't Historians of Biology Know about the Birds and the Bees?

“…178 As Marsha Richardson shows, the Saunders-Bateson partnership proved pivotal for the creation of a practical research program in genetics following the rediscovery of Mendel. 179 Bateson himself, working with R. P. Philips, tested if heterostylism in Primula followed patterns of Mendelian inheritance. It did: the short-style form proved dominant, the long-style recessive.…”

“The ‘Domestication’ of Heredity: The Familial Organization of Geneticists at Cambridge University, 1895–1910”

“…49 Bateson was thus fortunate to gain the assistance of these capable students. Perrone, 1993;Richmond, 1997, p. 446. 49 McWilliams-Tullberg, 1975Perrone, 1993;Richmond, 1997.…”

“…Perrone, 1993;Richmond, 1997, p. 446. 49 McWilliams-Tullberg, 1975Perrone, 1993;Richmond, 1997. For the response of members of the biology faculty to the questionnaire circulated in October 1896 about the impact of women's presence in science classes and laboratories, see Admission of Women to Degrees Syndicate, 1897: (Synd II.3), CUA.…”