Nettleship, Pearson and Bateson: The biometric-Mendelian debate in a medical context

Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences

Volumn 55, Issue 2, 2000, Pages 134-157

  Rushton, Alan R ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; EYE DISEASE; GENETIC DISORDER; GENETICS; HISTORY; HUMAN; UNITED KINGDOM;

ENGLAND; EYE DISEASES, HEREDITARY; GENETIC DISEASES, INBORN; GENETICS; HISTORY, 19TH CENTURY; HISTORY, 20TH CENTURY; HUMANS;

EID: 0034168761     PISSN: 00225045     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/jhmas/55.2.134     Document Type: Review

References (114)

1. R. C. Punnett, "William Bateson," in Dictionary of National Biography 1922-1930, ed. J. R. H. Weaver (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 67-68.
2. R. Olby, "The dimensions of scientific controversy: The biometric-Mendelian debate," Br. J. Hist. Sci., 1988, 22, 299-320.
3. L. Farrall, "Controversy and conflict in science: A case study - The English biometric school and Mendel's laws," Soc. Stud. Soc, 1975, 5, 269-301.
4. D. J. Kevles, "Genetics in the United States and Great Britain 1890-1930: A review with speculations," Isis, 1980, 71, 441-55.
5. A. G. Cock, "William Bateson, Mendelism, and biometry," J. Hist. Biol., 1973, 6, 1-36.
6. W. D. Provine, The Origins of Theoretical Population Genetics (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1971), pp. 63-64.
7. M. Greenwood, "Karl Pearson," in Dictionary of National Biography 1931-1910, ed. L. G. Wickham Legg (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 681-84.
8. Kevles, (n. 4), p. 443.
9. Cock (n. 5), p. 1.
10. W. Coleman, "William Bateson," in C. C. Gillispie, ed., Dictionary of Scientific Biography (New York: Scribners, 1970), 1, 505-6.
11. W. Bateson, Materials for the Study of Variation (Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1894, rprt. 1992), p. 567.
12. Ibid., p. 568.
13. Ibid., p. 514.
14. Greenwood, (n. 7); P. Froggatt and N. C. Nevin, "The 'law of ancestral heredity' and the Mendelian-ancestrian controversy in England, 1889-1906," J. Med. Gen., 1971, 8, 1-36.
15. R. Olby, "Constitutional and hereditary disorders," in W. F. Bynum and R. Porter, eds., Companion Encyclopedia to the History of Medicine (New York: Routledge, 1993), p. 421.
16. R. S. Cowan, "Galton's contribution to genetics," J. Hist. Biol., 1972, 5, 389-412.
17. Froggatt and Nevin, (n. 14), p. 7.
18. K. Pearson, "Mathematical contribution to the theory of evolution Part III. On the inheritance of eye color in man," Phil. Trans., 1900, 195A, 1-21.
19. Froggatt and Nevin, (n. 14), pp. 8-10; Kyung-M. Kim, Explaining Scientific Consensns-The Case of Mendelian Genetics (New York: Guilford, 1994), pp. 54-59.
20. C. Eisenhart, "Karl Pearson," in (n. 10) Dictionary, 10, 447-69.
21. K. Pearson, "A Mendelian's view on the law of ancestral heredity," Biometrika, 1904, 3, 109-12.
22. Kim, (n. 19) Explaining, p. 31.
23. Kevles, (n. 4), p. 444.
24. Froggatt and Nevin, (n. 14).
25. J. S. Jones, "The Galton Laboratory-University College London," in H. Keynes, ed., Sir Francis Galton FRS-The Legacy of His Ideas (London: Macmillan, 1993), pp. 190-94.
26. L. A. Farrall, The Origins and Growth of the English Eugenics Movement 1865-1925 (New York: Garland, 1985), pp. 176-77.
27. Jonathan Hutchinson (1828-1913) was professor of surgery at London Hospital College. A renowned teacher, he was an authority on ophthalmology, dermatology, and syphilis (Dictionary of National Biography 1912-1921, eds. H. W. C. Davis and J. R. H. Weaver [Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1930], pp. 279-80).
28. E. Nettleship, Diseases of the Eye (Philadelphia: Lea, 1890), p. iii.
29. E. Nettleship to W. Bateson, 25 January 1906, 2666, Bateson Collection, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich (hereafter referred to as B).
30. William Bowman (1816-1892) was a leading ophthalmologist of the day and defined the microscopic anatomy of the human eye. J. B. Lawford, "Memoir of Edward Nettleship," Trcas. Hum. Inherit., 1922, 2, ix-xv.
31. E. Nettleship, "Congenital day-blindness with color blindness," St. Thomas's Hosp. Rep., 1880, 10, 37-48.
32. E. Nettleship, "On some forms of congenital and infantile amblyopia," R. Lond. Ophthtal. Hosp. Rep., 1886, 11, 353-99.
33. Ibid.
34. Lawford, (n. 30).
35. K. Pearson to E. Nettleship, 23 November 1904, 205/42, Pearson Collection, Library of the University College London (hereafter referred to as P). The term "sibling" was first used by Elfric in his translation of the Biblical story of Lot's family and the destruction of Sodom (c. 1000, Genesis 19: 12), Oxford English Dictionary, Compact Edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971), p. 2813.
36. K. Pearson to E. Nettleship, 5 December 1904 (P 205/42).
37. E. Nettleship to K. Pearson, 14 December 1904 (P 205/29).
38. K. Pearson to E. Nettleship, 18 December 1904 (P 205/42).
39. E. Nettleship to K. Pearson, 30 December 1904 (P 205/29).
40. E. Nettleship to K. Pearson, 5 January 1905 (P 205/29).
41. E. Nettleship to K. Pearson, 21 May 1905 (P 205/29).
42. E. Nettleship to K. Pearson, 9 December 1905 (P 205/29).
43. E. Nettleship to K. Pearson, 2 July 1905 (P 205/29); E. Nettleship to K. Pearson, 13 December 1905 (P 205/29).
44. E. Nettleship to K. Pearson, 18 February 1906 (P 205/29).
45. E. Nettleship to K. Pearson, 21 July 1905 (P 205/29).
46. E. Nettleship to K. Pearson, 7 April 1906 (P 205/29).
47. E. Nettleship to K. Pearson, 8 June 1906 (P 205/29).
48. Nettleship to Pearson, (n. 44).
49. Nettleship to Pearson, (n. 46).
50. Nettleship to Pearson, (n. 47).
51. Ibid.
52. E. Nettleship, "Some hereditary diseases of the eye," Ophthalmoscope, 1906, 4, 493-505, 549-56, p. 493.
53. Ibid, pp. 493-505, 549-50.
54. K. Pearson to E. Nettleship, 25 September 1906 (P 205/43).
55. E. Nettleship to K. Pearson, 8 November 1906 (P 205/29).
56. K. Pearson, E. Nettleship and C. H. Usher, "A monograph on albinism in man," in Draper's Company Research Memoirs, vols. 6, 8, 9 (London: Dulau, 1911-1913).
57. Charles Usher (1865-1942) followed Nettleship's lead and investigated the heredity of many eye diseases.
58. E. S. Pearson, Karl Pearson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1938). R. Williams, 1997, personal communication from the Search Service, Royal Society of Medicine Library, London, 10 December 1997.
59. E. S. Pearson, Karl Pearson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1938). R. Williams, 1997, personal communication from the Search Service, Royal Society of Medicine Library, London, 10 December 1997.
60. R. Higgit, 1998, personal communication from the Manuscript and Rare Book Division of the Library at the University College London, 5 January 1998.
61. Farrall, (n. 26) Origins, p. 111.
62. Pearson, Nettleship, and Usher, (n. 56) 8, 477-81.
63. Ibid., 8, 490.
64. W. P. Herringham to E. Nettleship, 28 November 1904 (P 330).
65. E. Nettleship to W. Bateson, 12 December 1904 (B 2663).
66. Ibid.
67. Ibid.
68. W. Bateson to E. Nettleship, 15 July 1905 (P 329).
69. E. Nettleship to W. Bateson, 1 December 1905 (B 2664).
70. W. Bateson to E. Nettleship, 7 January 1907 (P 329).
71. W. Bateson to E. Nettleship, 13 April 1906 (P 329).
72. W. Bateson to E. Nettleship, 1 February 1906 (P 329).
73. Bateson to Nettleship, (n. 68).
74. W. Bateson to E. Nettleship, 13 October 1906 (P 329).
75. Bateson to Nettleship, (n. 70).
76. Nettleship to Bateson, (n. 29).
77. E. Nettleship to W. Bateson, 24 April 1906 (B 2674).
78. W. Bateson, "An address on Mendelian heredity and its application to man," Brain, 1906, 29, 157-75.
79. E. Nettleship to W. Bateson, 10 February 1906 (B 2668).
80. E. Nettleship to W. Bateson, 4 January 1906 (B 2682).
81. E. Nettleship, "A history of congenital stationary nightblindness in nine consecutive generations," Trans. Ophthal. Soc. U. K., 1907, 27, 269-93.
82. E. Nettleship, "Cases of color blindness in women," Trans. Ophthal. Soc. U. K., 1906, 26, 251-58.
83. W. Bateson to E. Nettleship, 11 February 1908 (P 329).
84. E. Nettleship to W. Bateson, 13 February 1908 (B 2690).
85. W. Bateson to E. Nettleship, 31 March 1908 (P 329).
86. W. Bateson, Mendel's Principles of Heredity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1909), p. 195.
87. E. Nettleship to W. Bateson, 25 October 1906 (B 2677).
88. E. Nettleship to W. Bateson, 20 October 1906 (B 2675).
89. E. Nettleship to W. Bateson, 6 January 1907 (B 2679).
90. E. Nettleship to W. Bateson, 29 January 1907 (B 2680).
91. W. Bateson to E. Nettleship, 10 February 1907 (P 329).
92. W. Bateson to E. Nettleship, 12 and 21 April 1911 (P 329).
93. W. Bateson to E. Nettleship, 8 June 1907 (P 329).
94. E. Nettleship to W. Bateson, 5 November 1908 (B 2735).
95. Nettleship, (n. 52).
96. E. Nettleship, "On retinitis pigmentosa and allied diseases," R. Lond. Ophthal. Hosp. Rep., 1907-1908, 17, p. 155.
97. E. Nettleship to W. Bateson 1907 (n.d.) (B 2692).
98. E. Nettleship, "Senile cataract in husband and wife," Trans. Ophthal. Soc. U. K., 1908, 28, 220-26.
99. E. Nettleship, "On some hereditary diseases of the eye, the Bowman Lecture," Trans. Ophthal. Soc. U.K., 29, i-cxcviii.
100. E. Nettleship, "On some cases of hereditary nystagmus," Trans. Ophthal. Soc. U. K., 1911, 31, 159-202.
101. H. E. Nettleship to W. Bateson, 12 June 1916 (B 2733).
102. Lawford, (n. 30).
103. E. Nettleship to W. Bateson, 15 August 1912 (B 2727).
104. Kevles, (n. 4), p. 448.
105. K. Pearson, "Prefatory note," Trcas. Hum. Inherit., 1922, 2, v-vii.
106. K. Pearson, "Editorial," Treas. Hum. Inherit., 1928, 2, i.
107. Kim, (n. 19), Explaining, pp. 108-9.
108. Nettleship, (n. 98).
109. R. A. Fisher, "Editorial," Ann. Eugen., 1934-1935, 6, 1. Fisher had earlier attempted to demonstrate the compatability of biometric and Mendelian analyses of heredity, but neither Pearson nor Bateson accepted his arguments (R. A. Fisher, "The correlation between relatives and the supposition of Mendelian inheritance," Trans. R. Soc. Ed., 1918, 52, 399-433).
110. R. A. Fisher, "Editorial," Ann. Eugen., 1934-1935, 6, 1. Fisher had earlier attempted to demonstrate the compatability of biometric and Mendelian analyses of heredity, but neither Pearson nor Bateson accepted his arguments (R. A. Fisher, "The correlation between relatives and the supposition of Mendelian inheritance," Trans. R. Soc. Ed., 1918, 52, 399-433).
111. Nettleship, (n. 98).
112. J. H. Renwick and S. D. Lawler, "Probable linkage between a congenital cataract locus and the Duffy blood group locus," Ann. Hum. Genet., 1963, 27, 67-84.
113. K. M. Boycott, "Evidence for genetic heterogeneity in X-linked congenital stationary night blindness," Am. J. Hum. Gen., 1998, 12, 865-75.
114. Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man. URL: http://www3.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ omini/.