The article deals with the Mendelian notation used in classical genetics for taking down breeding results. It identifies the most frequent meanings assigned to the capital and small letters in different situations in early classical genetics and the most influential conceptions of the nature of factors that are represented in Mendelian formulae by these letters. In 1913 Thomas Hunt Morgan opened a discussion about the adequacy of the notation and its interpretation in accordance with the Absence – Presence hypothesis and in accordance with allelomorphism. Hunt’s critique of Mendelian notation, his proposal for a new one, and the reaction to it constitute the heart of this article.
Mendelian notation; classical genetics; concept of gene factor; Thomas Hunt Morgan
ISSN 0300-4414 (print)
ISSN 2788-3485 (online)
founded 1968
Published by Society for the History of Sciences and Technology http://www.sdvt.cz
Pavel Mervart Publishing http://www.pavelmervart.cz/
