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Book Cover
Book
Author Gould, Laura L. (Laura Lehmer)

Title Cats are not peas : a calico history of genetics / Laura Gould
Published New York, NY : Copernicus, [1996]
©1996

Copies

Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 MELB  636.822 Gou/Can  AVAILABLE
Description xvi, 228 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
Summary In this story of an unrecognized chapter in the history of science, Gould takes us from ancient theories about inheritance and sex determination, through Mendel's famous experiments with his round and wrinkled peas, to speculations by Darwin and others about the rare male calicos. The struggles of early twentieth-century scientists to find and study rare male calicos in the hope of answering fundamental questions in the newly emerging field of genetics are explored in amusing detail
The chance acquisition of George, a very rare male calico kitten, sent Laura Gould on an unexpected and lengthy odyssey into the history of genetics. She thought she remembered that all calico cats were female. But why was that? And how did the rare exceptions like George occur? Gould's curiosity about her new cat's existence caused her to learn some basic genetics, to examine its history, and to explore cat folklore. The result is a thoroughly enjoyable and not too technical book narrated with inimitable grace and wit
Notes Includes indexes
Bibliography Bibliography: pages [199]-215
Subject Calico cats -- Anecdotes.
Calico cats.
Cats -- Genetics.
LC no. 96018692
ISBN 0387947965 (hardcover : alk. paper)