Description: Schwartz presents the history of genetics through the eyes of a dozen or so central players, beginning with Charles Darwin and ending with Nobel laureate Hermann J. Muller. This book offers readers background for understanding the latest findings in genetics and those still to come in the search for the genetic basis of complex diseases and traits.
Brief description: James Schwartz is an independent scholar and writer living in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Review Quotes: What distinguishes Schwartz's account is his impeccable scholarship, based on many primary sources, and his ability to keep the narrative moving, interweaving discoveries with the strong and eccentric personalities who made them...In Pursuit of the Gene should be required reading for all biologists unfamiliar with the history of genetics. Schwartz shows how quickly science can advance when a group of first-class minds encounters a fertile but unploughed field.--Jerry A. Coyne "Nature" (6/26/2008 12:00:00 AM)