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Pereira Martins, L. A.-C. (2024). Rhetoric in Modern Biological Thought: A Case Study of Classical Genetics. Revista Guillermo De Ockham, 23(1), 175–187. https://doi.org/10.21500/22563202.7128
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Abstract
This paper mainly focuses on the book The Mechanism of Mendelian Heredity (1915) by T. H. Morgan (1866-1945), Alfred H. Sturtevant (1891-1970), Herman J. Muller (1890-1967), and Calvin B. Bridges (1889-1938). Considered by some as a landmark in genetics, it convinced specialized and not specialized at the time that the theory was established despite its crucial problems. It aims to discuss the rhetorical devices the authors used to persuade these people. The methodology comprises the analysis of primary sources, in addition to the text by Morgan et al. (1915), and secondary sources dealing with the topic, including some works by the author of this article related to the subject and its representation in science. The study concluded that Morgan et al. (1915) used their discourse, some drawings, and diagrams, unaccompanied by photographs, mainly in aspects of the theory where evidence was scarce, giving a false impression that all was clear. It is possible to find historical simplification of the facts to reinforce the authors’ arguments, lack of discussion of alternative explanations, diagrams representing ideal objects they did not observe, and theoretical examples that conflicted with the numerical data in their previous papers. In addition, they did not present problems or difficulties related to their theory. All this contributed to some problematic features of the theory not being evident and being accepted.
Keywords:
References
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Allen, G. E. (1978). Thomas Hunt Morgan: The man and his science. Princeton University Press.
Bateson, W. (1916). The Mechanism of Mendelian Heredity. By T. H. Morgan, A. H. Sturtevant, H. J. Muller, and C. B. Bridges. Henry Holt and Company, New York. 1915. Science, 44(1137), 536–543. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.44.1137.536
Bateson, W., & Punnett, R. C. (1905). A suggestion as to the nature of the “walnut” comb in fowls. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 13, 165–168.
Bateson, W., & Punnett, R. C. (1911). On gametic series involving reduplication of certain terms. Journal of Genetics, 1, 293–302. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02981554
Baxter, A. L., & Farley, J. (1979). Mendel and meiosis. Journal of the History of Biology, 12(1), 137–171. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4330729
Bonnevie, K. (1907). “Heterotypical” mitosis in Nereis limbata (Ehlers). Biological Bulletin, 13, 57–83.
Brunelli, A. (2017). O desenvolvimento do conceito de linkage (1902-1915): uma contribuição histórica para o Ensino de genética [Master’s thesis, Universidade de São Paulo]. Biblioteca Digital USP. https://doi.org/10.11606/D.81.2015.tde-20072015-102850
Brush, S. G. (2002). How theories became knowledge: Morgan’s chromosome theory of heredity in America and Britain. Journal of the History of Biology, 35(3), 471–535. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021175231599
Cannon, W. A. (1902). A cytological basis for Mendelian laws. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 29(12), 657–661.
Coleman, W. (1963). Cell, nucleus, and inheritance: An historical study. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 109, 124–158.
Correns, C. (1902). Über den Modus und den Zeitpunket der Spaltung der Anlagen bei Bastarden der Erbsen-Typus. Bot. Zeit., 60(2), 65–68.
Creighton, H. B., & McClintock, B. (1931). A correlation of cytological and genetical crossingover in Zea mays. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 17(8), 492–497. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.17.8.49
Doncaster, L. (1915). Chromosomes, heredity, and sex, a review of the present state of the evidence with regard to the material basis of hereditary transmission and sex determination. Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, 59, 487–521.
Durbano, J. P. D. M. (2015) As pesquisas de Barbara McClintock sobre o crossing-over em Zea mays: 1925-1932. Filosofia e História da Biologia, 10(1), 49–65. https://www.abfhib.org/FHB/FHB-10-1/FHB-10-1-04-Joao-Durbano.pdf
Durbano, J. P. D. M. (2017). O desenvolvimento do conceito de crossing-over 1915-1935: uma introdução histórica para o ensino de genética [Doctoral thesis, Universidade de São Paulo]. Biblioteca Digital USP. https://doi.org/10.11606/T.59.2017.tde-09112020-101836
Gilbert, S. F. (1991). Epigenetic landscaping: Waddington’s use of cell fate bifurcation diagrams. Biology and Philosophy, 6(2), 135–154. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02426835
Ibarra, A., & Mormann, T. (2005). Interactive representations. Revista de Estudios sobre Representaciones en Arte, Ciencia y Filosofía, 1(1), 1–20.
Janssens, F. A. (1909). Spermatogénèse dans les batraciens, V. La théorie de la chiasmatypie, nouvelle interprétation des cinèses de maturation. La Cellule, 25, 389–406.
Lynch, M. (1991). Science in the age of mechanical reproduction: Moral and epistemic relations between diagrams and photographs. Biology and Philosophy, 6, 205–226. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02426838
Maienschein, J. (1991). From presentation to representation in E. B. Wilson’s The Cell. Biology and Philosophy, 6, 227–254. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02426839
Martins, L. A-C. P. (1997). A teoria cromossômica da herança, proposta, fundamentação, crítica e aceitação [Doctoral thesis, Universidade Estadual de Campinas]. Sophia. https://doi.org/10.47749/T/UNICAMP.1997.781732
Martins, L. A-C. P. (1998). Thomas Hunt Morgan e a teoria cromossômica: de crítico a defensor. Episteme: Filosofia e História das Ciências em Revista, 3(6), 100–126.
Martins, L. A-C. P. (1999). Did Sutton and Boveri propose the so-called Sutton-Boveri chromosome hypothesis? Genetics and Molecular Biology, 22(2), 261–271. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1415-47571999000200022
Martins, L. A-C. P. (2002). Bateson e o programa de pesquisa mendeliano. Episteme: Filosofia e História da Ciência em Revista, (14), 27–55.
Martins, L. A-C. P. (2005). História da ciência, objetos, métodos e problemas. Ciência & Educação, 11(2), 305–317. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1516-73132005000200011
Martins, L. A-C. P. (2007). El papel de las representaciones pictóricas en la ciencia: Wilson, Morgan y la teoría cromosómica. Representaciones: Revista de Estudios sobre Representaciones en Arte, Ciencia y Filosofía, 3(2), 77–96.
Martins, L. A-C. P. (2010). The dissemination of the chromosome theory of Mendelian heredity by Morgan and his collaborators around 1916: A case study on the distortion of science by scientists. Filosofia e História da Biologia, 5(2), 327–367.
Mayr, E. (1982). The growth of biological thought: Diversity, evolution, and inheritance. Harvard University Press.
Mendel, G. (1966). Experiments in plant hybridization. In C. Stern and E. Sherwood (Eds.), The origins of genetics: A Mendel source book (pp. 1–48). W. Frieman and Company. (Original work published 1866)
Moore, J. A. (1986). Science as a way of knowing-genetics. American Zoologist, 26(3), 583–747. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/26.3.583
Morgan, T. H. (1909). What are “factors” in Mendelian explanations? American Breeders Association Report, 5, 365–368.
Morgan, T. H. (1910). Chromosomes and heredity. The American Naturalist, 44(524), 449–496. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2455783
Morgan, T. H. (1914). No crossing over in the male of Drosophila of genes in the second and third pairs of chromosomes. Biological Bulletin, 26(4), 195–204.
Morgan, T. H., Sturtevant, A. H., Muller, H. J., & Bridges, C. B. (1915). The mechanism of Mendelian heredity. H. Holt and Company.
Portugal, F. H., & Cohen, J. S. (1977). A century of DNA: A history of the discovery of the structure and function of genetic substance. The MIT Press.
Stern, C. J. (1931). Zytologisch-genetische Untersuchungenals Beweise fur die Morganschetheorie des Faktorenaustausches. Biologisches Zentralblatt, 51, 547–587.
Sturtevant, A. H. (2011). A history of genetics. Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory Press. (Original work published 1965)
Sutton, W. S. (1902). On the morphology of the chromosome group in Brachystola magna. Biological Bulletin, 4, 24–39.
Sutton, W. S. (1903). The chromosomes in heredity. Biological Bulletin, 4, 231–251.
Swinburne, R. G. (1962). The presence-and-absence theory. Annals of Science, 18(3), 131–145. http://doi.org/10.1080/00033796200202762
Taylor, P. J., & Blum, A. S. (1991). Pictorial representation in biology. Biology and Philosophy, 6, 125–134. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02426834
The Mechanism of Mendelian Heredity. (1916). Nature, 97(2423), 117–118. https://doi.org/10.1038/097117a0
Trow, A. H. (1916). A criticism of the hypothesis of linkage and crossing-over. Journal of Genetics, 5(4), 281–297.
Wilson, E. B. (1909). Studies on chromosomes V. The “accessory” chromosome of Metapodius. A contribution to the hypothesis of the genetic continuity of chromosomes. The Journal of Experimental Zoology, 6(2), 147–205. https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.1400060202
Wilson, E. B. (1912). Studies on chromosomes VIII. Observations on the maturation phenomena in certain hemipter and other forms, with considerations on synapsis and reduction. The Journal of Experimental Zoology, 13(3), 345–449. https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.1400130302
Allen, G. E. (1972). Introduction. In T. H. Morgan, A. H. Sturtevant, H. J. Muller and C. B. Bridges, The mechanism of Mendelian heredity (pp. v–xxv). Johnson Reprint. (Original work published 1915)
Allen, G. E. (1978). Thomas Hunt Morgan: The man and his science. Princeton University Press.
Bateson, W. (1916). The Mechanism of Mendelian Heredity. By T. H. Morgan, A. H. Sturtevant, H. J. Muller, and C. B. Bridges. Henry Holt and Company, New York. 1915. Science, 44(1137), 536–543. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.44.1137.536
Bateson, W., & Punnett, R. C. (1905). A suggestion as to the nature of the “walnut” comb in fowls. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 13, 165–168.
Bateson, W., & Punnett, R. C. (1911). On gametic series involving reduplication of certain terms. Journal of Genetics, 1, 293–302. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02981554
Baxter, A. L., & Farley, J. (1979). Mendel and meiosis. Journal of the History of Biology, 12(1), 137–171. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4330729
Bonnevie, K. (1907). “Heterotypical” mitosis in Nereis limbata (Ehlers). Biological Bulletin, 13, 57–83.
Brunelli, A. (2017). O desenvolvimento do conceito de linkage (1902-1915): uma contribuição histórica para o Ensino de genética [Master’s thesis, Universidade de São Paulo]. Biblioteca Digital USP. https://doi.org/10.11606/D.81.2015.tde-20072015-102850
Brush, S. G. (2002). How theories became knowledge: Morgan’s chromosome theory of heredity in America and Britain. Journal of the History of Biology, 35(3), 471–535. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021175231599
Cannon, W. A. (1902). A cytological basis for Mendelian laws. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 29(12), 657–661.
Coleman, W. (1963). Cell, nucleus, and inheritance: An historical study. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 109, 124–158.
Correns, C. (1902). Über den Modus und den Zeitpunket der Spaltung der Anlagen bei Bastarden der Erbsen-Typus. Bot. Zeit., 60(2), 65–68.
Creighton, H. B., & McClintock, B. (1931). A correlation of cytological and genetical crossingover in Zea mays. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 17(8), 492–497. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.17.8.49
Doncaster, L. (1915). Chromosomes, heredity, and sex, a review of the present state of the evidence with regard to the material basis of hereditary transmission and sex determination. Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, 59, 487–521.
Durbano, J. P. D. M. (2015) As pesquisas de Barbara McClintock sobre o crossing-over em Zea mays: 1925-1932. Filosofia e História da Biologia, 10(1), 49–65. https://www.abfhib.org/FHB/FHB-10-1/FHB-10-1-04-Joao-Durbano.pdf
Durbano, J. P. D. M. (2017). O desenvolvimento do conceito de crossing-over 1915-1935: uma introdução histórica para o ensino de genética [Doctoral thesis, Universidade de São Paulo]. Biblioteca Digital USP. https://doi.org/10.11606/T.59.2017.tde-09112020-101836
Gilbert, S. F. (1991). Epigenetic landscaping: Waddington’s use of cell fate bifurcation diagrams. Biology and Philosophy, 6(2), 135–154. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02426835
Ibarra, A., & Mormann, T. (2005). Interactive representations. Revista de Estudios sobre Representaciones en Arte, Ciencia y Filosofía, 1(1), 1–20.
Janssens, F. A. (1909). Spermatogénèse dans les batraciens, V. La théorie de la chiasmatypie, nouvelle interprétation des cinèses de maturation. La Cellule, 25, 389–406.
Lynch, M. (1991). Science in the age of mechanical reproduction: Moral and epistemic relations between diagrams and photographs. Biology and Philosophy, 6, 205–226. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02426838
Maienschein, J. (1991). From presentation to representation in E. B. Wilson’s The Cell. Biology and Philosophy, 6, 227–254. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02426839
Martins, L. A-C. P. (1997). A teoria cromossômica da herança, proposta, fundamentação, crítica e aceitação [Doctoral thesis, Universidade Estadual de Campinas]. Sophia. https://doi.org/10.47749/T/UNICAMP.1997.781732
Martins, L. A-C. P. (1998). Thomas Hunt Morgan e a teoria cromossômica: de crítico a defensor. Episteme: Filosofia e História das Ciências em Revista, 3(6), 100–126.
Martins, L. A-C. P. (1999). Did Sutton and Boveri propose the so-called Sutton-Boveri chromosome hypothesis? Genetics and Molecular Biology, 22(2), 261–271. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1415-47571999000200022
Martins, L. A-C. P. (2002). Bateson e o programa de pesquisa mendeliano. Episteme: Filosofia e História da Ciência em Revista, (14), 27–55.
Martins, L. A-C. P. (2005). História da ciência, objetos, métodos e problemas. Ciência & Educação, 11(2), 305–317. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1516-73132005000200011
Martins, L. A-C. P. (2007). El papel de las representaciones pictóricas en la ciencia: Wilson, Morgan y la teoría cromosómica. Representaciones: Revista de Estudios sobre Representaciones en Arte, Ciencia y Filosofía, 3(2), 77–96.
Martins, L. A-C. P. (2010). The dissemination of the chromosome theory of Mendelian heredity by Morgan and his collaborators around 1916: A case study on the distortion of science by scientists. Filosofia e História da Biologia, 5(2), 327–367.
Mayr, E. (1982). The growth of biological thought: Diversity, evolution, and inheritance. Harvard University Press.
Mendel, G. (1966). Experiments in plant hybridization. In C. Stern and E. Sherwood (Eds.), The origins of genetics: A Mendel source book (pp. 1–48). W. Frieman and Company. (Original work published 1866)
Moore, J. A. (1986). Science as a way of knowing-genetics. American Zoologist, 26(3), 583–747. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/26.3.583
Morgan, T. H. (1909). What are “factors” in Mendelian explanations? American Breeders Association Report, 5, 365–368.
Morgan, T. H. (1910). Chromosomes and heredity. The American Naturalist, 44(524), 449–496. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2455783
Morgan, T. H. (1914). No crossing over in the male of Drosophila of genes in the second and third pairs of chromosomes. Biological Bulletin, 26(4), 195–204.
Morgan, T. H., Sturtevant, A. H., Muller, H. J., & Bridges, C. B. (1915). The mechanism of Mendelian heredity. H. Holt and Company.
Portugal, F. H., & Cohen, J. S. (1977). A century of DNA: A history of the discovery of the structure and function of genetic substance. The MIT Press.
Stern, C. J. (1931). Zytologisch-genetische Untersuchungenals Beweise fur die Morganschetheorie des Faktorenaustausches. Biologisches Zentralblatt, 51, 547–587.
Sturtevant, A. H. (2011). A history of genetics. Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory Press. (Original work published 1965)
Sutton, W. S. (1902). On the morphology of the chromosome group in Brachystola magna. Biological Bulletin, 4, 24–39.
Sutton, W. S. (1903). The chromosomes in heredity. Biological Bulletin, 4, 231–251.
Swinburne, R. G. (1962). The presence-and-absence theory. Annals of Science, 18(3), 131–145. http://doi.org/10.1080/00033796200202762
Taylor, P. J., & Blum, A. S. (1991). Pictorial representation in biology. Biology and Philosophy, 6, 125–134. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02426834
The Mechanism of Mendelian Heredity. (1916). Nature, 97(2423), 117–118. https://doi.org/10.1038/097117a0
Trow, A. H. (1916). A criticism of the hypothesis of linkage and crossing-over. Journal of Genetics, 5(4), 281–297.
Wilson, E. B. (1909). Studies on chromosomes V. The “accessory” chromosome of Metapodius. A contribution to the hypothesis of the genetic continuity of chromosomes. The Journal of Experimental Zoology, 6(2), 147–205. https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.1400060202
Wilson, E. B. (1912). Studies on chromosomes VIII. Observations on the maturation phenomena in certain hemipter and other forms, with considerations on synapsis and reduction. The Journal of Experimental Zoology, 13(3), 345–449. https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.1400130302
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