An eminent geneticist, veteran author, OMMG Series Editor, and noted archivist, Peter Harper presents a lively account of how our ideas and knowledge about human genetics have developed over the past century from the perspective of someone inside the field with a deep interest in its historical aspects. Dr. Harper has researched the history of genetics and has had personal contact with a host of key figures whose memories and experiences extend back 50 years, and he has interviewed and recorded conversations with many of these important geneticists. Thus, rather than being a conventional history, this book transmits the essence of the ideas and the people involved and how they interacted in advancing- and sometimes retarding- the field. From the origins of human genetics; through the contributions of Darwin, Mendel, and other giants; the identification of the first human chromosome abnormalities; and up through the completion of the Human Genome project, this Short History is written in the author's characteristic clear and personal style, which appeals to geneticists and to all those interested in the story of human genetics.
Peter S. Harper, Professor, Institute of Medical Genetics, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff
"'*****'" - Dr Alix Darden, The Citadel
"Peter Harper has written a defining and thoroughly readable account of the development of the subject that most readers would acknowledge to be the most exciting and innovative in modern science and medicine...compiled with clarity and style [and] a major work of great scholarship, it provides the reader wtih a unique insight into the history of the subject...[a] tour de force..." - Human Genetics
Preface Introduction Part 1: The Foundations of Human and Medical Genetics 1: Before Mendel 2: Mendelism and Human Inherited Disorders 3: The Rise of Classical Genetics 4: The Beginnings of Molecular Biology Part 2: Human Genetics 5: Human Chromosomes 6: Human Biochemical Genetics 7: The Human Gene Map 8: Genes, Populations and Human Inherited Disorders 9: Human Genetics as a Scientific Discipline Part 3: Medical Genetics 10: From Human to Medical Genetics 11: The Elements of Medical Genetics 12: Medical Genetics, the Laboratory Basis 13: Human Molecular Genetics 14: The Management, Therapy and Prevention of Genetic Disease Part 4: Genetics and Society 15: Eugenics 16: The Tragedy of Russian Genetics 17: Medical Genetics, the Ethical Dimension Part 5: Conclusion and Appendices 18: History in the Making Appendix I: General Sources Appendix II: Timeline References
