The Cold War Politics of Genetic Research: An Introduction to the Lysenko AffairThis book uses the reaction of a number of biologists in the United States and Great Britain to provide an overview of one of the most important controversies in Twentieth Century biology, the “Lysenko Affair.” The book is written for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of history/history of science. It covers a number of topics which are relevant to understanding the sources and dimensions of the Lysenko controversy, including the interwar eugenics movement, the Scopes Trial, the popularity of Lamarckism as a theory of heredity prior to the synthesis of genetics and Natural Selection, and the Cold War. The book focuses particularly on portrayals—both positive and negative—of Lysenko in the popular press in the U.S. and Europe, and thus by extension the relationship between scientists and society. Because the Lysenko controversy attracted a high level of interest among the lay community, it constitutes a useful historical example to consider in context with current topics that have received a similar level of attention, such as Intelligent Design or Climate Change. |
Contents
1 | |
Chapter 2 Between World War and Cold War | 29 |
Chapter 3 Reacting to Lysenko | 57 |
Chapter 4 Acquired Characteristics | 84 |
Chapter 5 The Spitzer Affair | 111 |
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Academy acquired characteristics agricultural American Philosophical Society believed biologists Burbank Carlson claimed Columbia Conway Zirkle Correspondence criticism Darwinism described discussion Dobzhansky to L.C. Dunn’s eugenics evolution fact Fall of T.D. Genes geneticists H.J. Muller Haldane’s Heredity Heredity East Hudson and Richens Huxley’s Ibid ideas issue J.B.S. Haldane Joravsky Journal Julian Huxley Kaempffert Khrushchev L.C. Dunn Papers Lamarckism later Lenin Lerner Leslie Clarence Dunn letter Lysenko affair Lysenko controversy Lysenkoists Marxian Biology Marxism Medvedev Mendel Michurin Moscow Nazi Nikolai Vavilov organized plants political Pravda published race Radiation and Society Reminiscences of L.C. Reminiscences of Theodosius Russian Saturday Review Science in Russia scientific scientists Soviet biology Soviet genetics Soviet Science Soviet Union Soyfer Spitzer Springer Science+Business Media Stalin Stalinist Science Stoletov T.D. Lysenko T.H. Morgan Theodosius Dobzhansky Tragedy of Soviet Trofim United USSR VASKhNIL VASKhNIL conference Vavilov views Waldemar Kaempffert Wallace West World York Zhebrak Zirkle’s