title: Armin von Tschermak-Seysenegg (1870-1952): Physiologist and Co-'Rediscoverer' of Mendel's laws.
abstract: The 'rediscovery' of Mendel's laws in 1900 was a turning point in modern research of heredity/genetics. According to the traditional view, adopted and fostered by many textbooks of genetics, Mendel's principles were presented in the first half of 1900 simultaneously and independently by three biologists (H. de Vries, C. Correns, E. v. Tschermak-Seysenegg). Having thus laid the foundations of further development, the 'rediscovery' continues to attract considerable interest. Since the 1950s, however, serious questions arose concerning both the chronology and specific conceptual achievement of the scientists involved. Not only the independence but also parallelism was analysed in the context of individual research programmes of these three scholars. The youngest of them, Erich v. Tschermak-Seysenegg, was even excluded from the list of 'rediscoverers'. The aim of this paper is to use new archival evidence and approximate the contribution of the physiologist and ophthalmologist Armin von Tschermak-Seysenegg (1870-1952) to the events of 1900 and 1901.
authors.affiliation: Centre for the History of Sciences and Humanities, Institute of Contemporary History of the Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Michal V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Simunek
authors.affiliation: Imperial College London, National Heart and Lung Institute Hammersmith Hospital, ICTEM Building, 3rd Floor Du Cane Road 2, London, W12 0HS, UK.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mielewczik
authors.affiliation: Working Group Biology Education, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Am Steiger 3, 07743, Jena, Germany. georgelevit@gmx.net.|ITMO University, Chaikovsky Str. 11, 191187, Saint Petersburg, Russia. georgelevit@gmx.net.
authors.forename: Georgy S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Levit
authors.affiliation: Working Group Biology Education, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Am Steiger 3, 07743, Jena, Germany.|ITMO University, Chaikovsky Str. 11, 191187, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hossfeld
mesh_terms: D057235:Austria-Hungary; D001901:Botany / Q000266:history*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005823:Genetics / Q000266:history*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D010944:Plants
keywords: Mendel’s Laws; Tschermak-Seysenegg v. Armin & Erich; ‘Mendelism’; ‘Rediscovery’