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Mendel on developmental information

Shan, Yafeng (2021) Mendel on developmental information. In: Chris, Meyns, ed. Information and the History of Philosophy. Rewriting the History of Philosophy . Routledge, London, UK, pp. 262-280. ISBN 978-0-8153-5500-7. (doi:10.4324/9781351130752-20) (KAR id:86796)

Abstract

It has been widely received that one of Gregor Mendel’s most important contribution to the history of genetics is his novel work on developmental information (for example, the proposal of the famous Mendelian ratios like 1:2:1, 3:1, and 9:3:3:1). This view is well evidenced by the fact that much of early Mendelians’ work in the 1900s focuses on the retrodiction (i.e. the re-analysis of the pre-exist data with Mendel’s approach). However, there is no consensus on what Mendel meant by development (Entwicklung). Nor is there an agreement on the interpretation of Mendel’s laws of developmental series (Entwicklungsreihe). This chapter revisits Mendel’s notions of development and developmental series. Firstly, I argue that Mendel’s use of development is greatly influenced by Gärtner’s. Secondly, I show Mendel’s work on developmental series are novel and important for its new ways of experimentation, conceputalisation, and analysis. Thirdly, I argue that Mendel’s laws of developmental information were not about heredity.

Item Type: Book section
DOI/Identification number: 10.4324/9781351130752-20
Subjects: C Auxiliary Sciences of History > C Auxiliary sciences of history (General)
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of Culture and Languages
Depositing User: Yafeng Shan
Date Deposited: 26 Feb 2021 14:46 UTC
Last Modified: 08 Dec 2022 21:21 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/86796 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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