Sturtevant & Dobzhansky Two Scientists at Odds

About the Book

The account is, at the outset, largely anecdotal, detailing a series of amusing or otherwise interesting events occurring during decades of work in the field of genetics. These could be palatable to any reader. This is followed by an autobiographical account of the early days of the author, which is presented to show the activities and thought processes of a young boy, with a logical-mathematical orientation, growing up during the depression years of the 1930’s, and the sequence of events that led to a career in the field of genetics. During the period of graduate work which was started under Th. Dobzhansky and finished under A.H. Sturtevant, the writer became familiar with the personalities and work styles of both. Eventually they fell apart and engaged in an open confrontation. A personal view of this was initially the main thrust of the presentation.

The next segment concerns, an account of some of the unique triumphs and failures encountered in the pursuit of solutions to problems in this area followed by thoughts of the author and several others on the nature of research in science. Finally we have included the reprints of several articles pertinent to the overall presentation, including an unusually perceptive analysis by Prof. Richard Lewontin on the research style of Th. Dobzhansky and an article by Prof. A. H. Sturtevant commenting on several of his papers.

About the Author

Biographical Sketch: Edward Novitski Born Wilkes-Barre, Pa. July 24, 1918 Graduated Elmer L. Meyers High School, 1936 Graduated Purdue University, B. Sc. 1938, with Disctinction Graduated Calif. Inst. Of Tech. Ph.D. 1942 US Army Air Force 1942-1945 Fellow of John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. 1945-1946 Research Associate, Univ. of Missouri, 1947-1948 Postdoctoral Fellow, Calif. Inst. Of Tech. 1948-1950 Prof. Of Zoology, Univ. of Missouri, 1951-1957 Head, Biology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1957-1958 Prof. Of Biology, University of Oegon, 1958 to present Senior Postdoctoral Fellow of the National Science Foundation, C.S.I.R.O. Canberra, Australia. 1967 Fellow of John Simon Guggeheim Foundation, Fulbright Fellow, National Science Foundation Fellow. Division of Genetics, University of Leiden, Leiden, Netherlands. 1972-1974