PG Student Seminar
Institute for the Study of Science, Technology and Innovation
http://www.issti.ed.ac.uk/research_students/seminar
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‘Building up a great research institute’: James Cossar Ewart and the birth of animal genetics in Edinburgh, 1890-1919
Clare Button (University of Edinburgh)
20th October 2016, Thursday 4-5pm, Seminar Room 1.06, Old Surgeons' Hall (http://www.issti.ed.ac.uk/about/how_to_find_us)
Abstract:
Edinburgh has a long history of animal genetics research, which can be traced to the establishment in 1919 of the Animal Breeding Research Department (later the internationally renowned Institute of Animal Genetics). However, the complex factors underpinning the development of this area of research in Edinburgh have not hitherto received scholarly attention. This paper will shed new light on Edinburgh’s place in early British genetics history, drawing upon archival sources including the recently catalogued papers of James Cossar Ewart, Regius Professor of Natural History at the University of Edinburgh between 1882-1927. Although a marginal figure in genetics historiography, it will be seen that Ewart’s pioneering breeding experiments, creation of an experimental station and institution of Britain’s first genetics lectureship consolidated Edinburgh as the focal point for research in this area. However, Ewart’s personal ambitions ultimately played a role in delaying the creation of the Department and the appointment of its director. This paper will situate Ewart within local and national networks of biologists, presenting an alternative to the dominant narrative of “the Cambridge Mendelians” in British genetics history.
For more information, please contact:
Anna Kuslits (s1469844@ed.ac.uk)
Ros Attenborough (s1562082@ed.ac.uk)
Fiona Coyle (s0937938@ed.ac.uk)