Evolution and Adaptation

by Thomas Hunt Morgan

The chapters presented in this book were written by Thomas Hunt Morgan, an American evolutionary biologist, geneticist, embryologist, and science author who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1933 for discoveries elucidating the role that the chromosome plays in heredity. Here, he lays out his ideas on the relations between the organism and its environment and whether Darwinian ideas are enough to explain some of the phenomena he observed during his studies, especially those of regeneration.

286 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 2013

About the author

Thomas Hunt Morgan Ph.D. (Zoology, Johns Hopkins University, 1890) was an evolutionary biologist, geneticist, embryologist, and science author who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1933 for discoveries relating the role the chromosome plays in heredity.

Morgan researched embryology during his tenure at Bryn Mawr College, the sister school of his alma mater. Following the rediscovery of Mendelian inheritance in 1900, Morgan's research moved to the study of mutation in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. In his famous Fly Room at Columbia University, Morgan was able to demonstrate that genes are carried on chromosomes and are the mechanical basis of heredity. These discoveries formed the basis of the modern science of genetics. He was the first person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in genetics.

During his distinguished career, Morgan wrote 22 books and 370 scientific papers, and, as a result of his work, Drosophila became a major model organism in contemporary genetics. The Division of Biology he established at the California Institute of Technology has produced seven Nobel Prize winners.

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[Forked Radish]

First published in 1903.