The Laws Of Heredity Classic Reprint

Excerpt from The Laws of Heredity HE present volume covers a wider area than my last T 123 Principles of Heredity. N 0 problems can be named of greater importance to the community than those of Heredity. I have tried, therefore, to make the argument as plain as possible to the general reader. And, since facts which we are able to observe and verify for ourselves, are more impressive and valuable intellectually than those we are obliged to accept at second hand, I have used, whenever possible, material that is familiar to every one. Some biologists may regard Chapter III., which deals with scientific method, as unnecessary and even as impertinent. But every writer hopes to gain wide assent to his reasoning; and, there are, apparently, amongst thinkers about living beings, such fundamental differences of Opinion as to what constitutes evidence, what logical proof, and what science, that no one can hope to secure wide assent unless he first lay down the principles that have guided his own thinking and obtains assent to them. If the history of biology be considered, I believe it will be seen that many of the controversies, in which its students have en gaged, arose and persisted merely because the disputants, holding what were really divergent views as to the nature of science, failed to reach a preliminary agreement with respect to their basic assumptions. As far as my powers permitted, I have followed the rules of procedure that have been enunciated by every authority who has both thought and written about the subject. When these rules have been disregarded, the writers, however right they may be able to prove themselves ultimately, have never expressed their dissent in reasoned statements; they have merely implied it in their methods of work. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.