This paper aims to illustrate the influence of Franz Unger's (1800--1870) and Carl Wilhelm Nägeli's (1817--1891) anatomical and developmental works on Gregor Mendel's (1822--1884) use of numerical ratios in biological inquiry. All hypotheses concerning Mendel's sources of inspiration have hitherto overlooked the cytological teaching of Unger, his professor of botany. In the 1830s and 1840s, he was a pioneer of cell theory. His publications, including his university textbooks, are characterised by a particulate and quantifying approach towards vital phenomena. Special attention will be paid to Unger's and Nägeli's `law of plant growth', which shows some striking basic correspondences with Mendel's approach. This demonstrates, firstly, that mathematical thinking was not alien to mid-nineteenth century botany, and secondly, that Mendel's conceptions were influenced by an even greater variety of ideas circulating around 1850.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Article
Wülfingen, Bettina Bock v.;
(2015)
Observing Temporal Order in Living Processes: On the Role of Time in Embryology on the Cell Level in the 1870s and Post-2000
(/isis/citation/CBB001510247/)
Article
Deichmann, Ute;
(2014)
The Concept of the Causal Role of Chromosomes and Genes in Heredity and Development: Opponents from Darwin to Lysenko
(/isis/citation/CBB001552681/)
Book
Alfonso Lucifredi;
(2018)
L'eredità di Mendel : all'origine della genetica
(/isis/citation/CBB911718694/)
Book
Tudge, Colin;
(2001)
Impact of the Gene: From Mendel's Peas to Designer Babies
(/isis/citation/CBB000102136/)
Article
Teicher, Amir;
(2014)
Mendel's Use of Mathematical Modelling: Ratios, Predictions and the Appeal to Tradition
(/isis/citation/CBB001510272/)
Book
Henig, Robin Marantz;
(2000)
The Monk in the Garden: The Lost and Found Genius of Gregor Mendel, the Father of Genetics
(/isis/citation/CBB000330840/)
Article
Hans-Jörg Rheinberger;
(2015)
Re-discovering Mendel: The Case of Carl Correns
(/isis/citation/CBB876750608/)
Article
M. Susan Lindee;
John J. Mulvihill;
(2020)
Celebrating Mendel's 200th Birthday July 22, 2022
(/isis/citation/CBB298704434/)
Book
Edelson, Edward;
(2001)
Gregor Mendel and the Roots of Genetics
(/isis/citation/CBB000500034/)
Article
Kemp, Martin;
(2002)
Peas without pictures: Gregor Mendel and the mathematical birth of modern genetics
(/isis/citation/CBB000301254/)
Article
Erik L. Peterson;
Kostas Kampourakis;
(2015)
The Paradigmatic Mendel at the Sesquicentennial of “Versuche über Pflantzen-Hybriden”: Introduction to the Thematic Issue
(/isis/citation/CBB044570085/)
Chapter
Marcello Buiatti;
(2015)
La storia del gene
(/isis/citation/CBB572210343/)
Article
Müller-Wille, S.;
Orel, V.;
(2007)
From Linnaean Species to Mendelian Factors: Elements of Hybridism, 1751-1870
(/isis/citation/CBB000771333/)
Book
Rushton, Alan R.;
(2009)
Genetics in Medicine in Great Britain 1600 to 1939
(/isis/citation/CBB001020882/)
Article
Orel, Vítezslav;
(2010)
Science Studies and Mendel's Paradigm
(/isis/citation/CBB000954439/)
Book
Tudge, Colin;
(2000)
In Mendel's footnotes: An introduction to the science and technologies of genes and genetics from the nineteenth century to the twenty-second
(/isis/citation/CBB000111075/)
Book
Carlson, Elof Axel;
(2004)
Mendel's Legacy: The Origin of Classical Genetics
(/isis/citation/CBB000550906/)
Article
Ida H. Stamhuis;
(2015)
Why the Rediscoverer Ended up on the Sidelines: Hugo De Vries’s Theory of Inheritance and the Mendelian Laws
(/isis/citation/CBB635458781/)
Book
Gottfried Brem;
(2017)
150 Jahre Mendelsche Regeln: Vom Erbsenzählen zum Gen-Editieren
(/isis/citation/CBB197972119/)
Article
Lorenzano, Pablo;
(2011)
What Would Have Happened If Darwin Had Known Mendel (or Mendel's Work)?
(/isis/citation/CBB001034540/)
Be the first to comment!