Imre Festetics and the Sheep Breeders' Society of Moravia: Mendel's Forgotten “Research Network”

Poczai, Péter; Bell, Neil; Hyvönen, Jaakko

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001772

Cited by 16 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…Inbreeding methods, developed by Robert Bakewell (1725-1795), were also transferred to the Habsburg monarchy by Ferdinand Geisslern (1751-1824) and other members of SBS who visited England. Soon this society became an important melting pot creating a multicultural and interdisciplinary scientific community, which shaped pre-Mendelian heredity research [41]. Sheep breeders, factory owners, businessmen, economists, and academics in Brno-united by their common interest in wool-began discussing how they might increase production and quality [42]; [43] (p. [57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70].…”

Section: Creative Philanthropy: Setting the Stage For Industrial And Scientific Revolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Political Repression Stifled the Nascent Foundations of Heredity Research before Mendel in Central European Sheep Breeding Societies

et al. 2021

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The nineteenth century was a time of great economic, social, and political change. The population of a modernizing Europe began demanding more freedom, which in turn propelled the ongoing discussion on the philosophy of nature. This spurred on Central European sheep breeders to debate the deepest secrets of nature: the transmission of traits from one generation to another. Scholarly questions of heredity were profoundly entwined with philosophy and politics when particular awareness of “the genetic laws of nature” claimed natural equality. The realization that the same rules of inheritance may apply to all living beings frightened both the absolutist political power and the divided society of the day. Many were not prepared to separate religious questions from novel natural phenomena. Open-minded breeders put their knowledge into practice right away to create sheep with better wool traits through inbreeding and artificial selection. This was viewed, however, as the artificial modification of nature operating against the cultural and religious norms of the day. Liberal attempts caught the attention of the secret police and, consequently, the aspirations of scholars were suppressed by political will during approximately 1820–1850.

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Section: Creative Philanthropy: Setting the Stage For Industrial And Scientific Revolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Political Repression Stifled the Nascent Foundations of Heredity Research before Mendel in Central European Sheep Breeding Societies

et al. 2021

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“…Borrowing an illustrative example from the biological sciences: Mendel is widely acknowledged to have discovered the laws of genetics, but recent research suggests that his research direction and experiment design might have been inspired by Imre Festetics. 2 Similarly, future developments in computation chemistry and re-interpretations of old evidence from fresh perspectives may lead to slightly different conclusions on the above debate.…”

Section: Theory or Computing Power?mentioning

confidence: 99%

What drives computation chemistry forward: theory or computing power?

2016

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History is often thought to be dull and boring -where large numbers of facts are memorized for passing exams. But the past informs the present and future, especially in delineating the context surrounding specific events that, in turn, help provide a deeper understanding of their causes and implications. Scientific progress (whether incremental or breakthroughs) is built upon prior work. Chronological examination of the field's evolution reveals the existence of major "epochs" (e.g., transition from semi-empirical methods to first principles calculations), and the centrality of key ideas (e.g., Schrodinger equation and Born Oppenheimer approximation) in potentiating progress in the field. The longstanding question of whether computing power (both capacity and speed) or theoretical insights play a more important role in advancing computation chemistry was examined by taking into account the field's development holistically. Specifically, availability of large amount of computing power at declining cost, and advent of graphics processing unit (GPU) powered parallel computing are enabling tools for solving up to now intractable problems. On the other hand, this essay argues (using Born Oppenheimer approximation as an example) that theoretical insights' role in unlocking problems through simple (but insightful) assumptions is often overlooked. Collectively, the essay should be useful as a primer for appreciating major development periods in computation chemistry, from which counterfactual questions illuminate the relative importance of intuition and advances in computer science in moving the field forward.

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“…Borrowing an illustrative example from the biological sciences: although Mendel is widely acknowledged to have discovered the laws of genetics, recent research suggests that his research directionand experimental designmight have been inspired by Imre Festetics. 2 Similarly, future developments in computational chemistry and re-interpretations of old evidence from fresh perspectives may lead to slightly different conclusions on the above debate.…”

Section: Synopsismentioning

confidence: 99%

Walking down computational chemistry memory lane one acronym at a time

W¹

2014

Preprint

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History is often thought to be dull and boring – where large numbers of facts are memorized for passing exams. But the past informs both the present and future; particularly in delineating the context surrounding specific events that, in turn, help provide us with a deeper understanding of their underlying causes and potential implications. To the uninitiated, the computational chemistry literature appears intimating given the pervasive use of acronyms (each with specialist meaning) and eponymous method names. While jargons expedite communication of complex ideas between practitioners in the field, and add clarity to a discussion (e.g., explaining complicated concepts in plain language may not capture subtle - but important - nuances in meaning), they nevertheless presents a significant barrier to understanding for researchers in other fields. Specifically, an inability to comprehend the meaning of the various terms and jargons used would significantly impede understanding and navigation of the literature – and may translate into difficulty in selecting appropriate tools for the task at hand. Scientific progress – both incremental and breakthroughs - is built upon prior work. By placing various computational methods and techniques along a chronological thread, a commentary article aims to demystify the tangled web of acronyms and terms that populate the electronic structure calculations literature and highlights the interrelationships between methods – particularly, how one method evolved from another. Additionally, the chronological framework also allows readers to appreciate developments in computational chemistry through the lens of major “epochs” (e.g., transition from semi-empirical methods to first-principles calculations) and the centrality of key ideas (e.g., Schrodinger equation and Born-Oppenheimer approximation) in charting progress in the field. Finally, the chronological time-line delineated also provides an opportune backdrop for examining the perennial question of whether computational power (both capacity and speed) or theoretical insights play a more important role in advancing computational chemistry research. Particularly, while availability of large amount of computational power at declining cost and advent of graphics processing unit (GPU) powered parallel computing are enabling tools for solving hitherto intractable problems; the article argues, using Born-Oppenheimer approximation as an example, that theoretical insights’ role in unlocking problems through simple – but insightful – assumptions is often overlooked. Collectively, the article should be useful as a primer for researchers to gain a more holistic understanding of computational chemistry, and students wishing to learn more about the conceptual basis and purpose of various electronic structure calculations methods prior to venturing into the field’s expansive literature.

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Imre Festetics and the Sheep Breeders' Society of Moravia: Mendel's Forgotten “Research Network”

Abstract: Poczai and coauthors introduce us to a Moravian Count, Imre Festetics, who formulated many principles of genetics before Mendel was born and helped establish the “research network” within which Mendel later developed his own ideas.

Cited by 16 publications

References 8 publications

How Political Repression Stifled the Nascent Foundations of Heredity Research before Mendel in Central European Sheep Breeding Societies

How Political Repression Stifled the Nascent Foundations of Heredity Research before Mendel in Central European Sheep Breeding Societies

What drives computation chemistry forward: theory or computing power?

Walking down computational chemistry memory lane one acronym at a time

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