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Irene Manton, Erwin Schrödinger and the Puzzle of Chromosome Structure

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Abstract

Erwin Schrödinger’s 1944 publication What is Life? is a classic of twentieth century science writing. In his book, Schrödinger discussed the chromosome fibre as the seat of heredity and variation thanks to a hypothetical aperiodic structure – a suggestion that famously spurred on a generation of scientists in their pursuit of the gene as a physico-chemical entity. While historical attention has been given to physicists who were inspired by the book, little has been written about its biologist readers. This paper examines the case of the English evolutionary botanist and cytologist Irène Manton, who took an interest in What is Life? for its relevance to her own research in chromosome structure as a clue to plant phylogeny. Drawing on recently discovered correspondence between Manton and Schrödinger, the paper reconstructs Manton ‘s path to the book (including the role of the chemist-philosopher Michael Polanyi) and her response to it by way of throwing new light on a pivotal moment in the history of the debate on chromosome structure.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Professor Greg Radick, University of Leeds, for his advice and support during the compilation of this paper. Thanks also to Dominic Berry, who recently brought Irene Manton to life with his work for the University of Leeds Museum of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine. I am especially grateful to Peter Evennett who (along with others) kindly gave his time to discuss his knowledge of Irene Manton and who gave access to materials, in particular a recorded interview, that have been invaluable to this project. Thank you to two anonymous reviewers whose insights have been assimilated into revisions made to this paper. Thanks are due to Richard Davies at the Brotherton Library, University of Leeds, for his assistance and to Michelle Williams, Librarian at the School of Theoretical Physics, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, for her help in obtaining valuable correspondence for this research.

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Williams, N. Irene Manton, Erwin Schrödinger and the Puzzle of Chromosome Structure. J Hist Biol 49, 425–459 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10739-015-9424-5

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