Genetics and the Origin of Species
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1937
- Language
- English
- Length
- Medium · 370 pp120 to 300 pages
- Difficulty
- Difficult4 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendGenetics and the Origin of SpeciesColumbia University Press, 1982A reprint of the 1937 first edition with Stephen Jay Gould's introduction; the Great Books set uses the same text.
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The book that brought Mendelian genetics and Darwinian natural selection together and started the modern synthesis. Based on Dobzhansky's 1936 Jesup Lectures at Columbia, it treats mutation as the raw material of evolution, describes variation in natural populations of Drosophila, and shows how selection, genetic drift, and isolating mechanisms such as hybrid sterility turn variation within a species into differences between species. It made population genetics accessible to naturalists and gave the synthesis its textbook.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Genetics and the Origin of Species are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
