France in the era of mendelism (1900-1930)

This paper describes and Explains the reception of mendelism among French b iologists at the beginning of the 20th Century. Three dimensions of descrip tion must be taken into account: scholarly diffusion; transmission of the n ew science through teaching and textbooks; and effective research. These th ree axes of description do not provide the same picture: Mendelian researc h was widely reported among specialists; no significant teaching of Mendeli sm took place in the years 1900-1930; by 1930 only one biologist, Lucien Cu enot, had carried out significant genetic research, but he abandoned his Me ndelian research in 1914. The resistance to Mendelism can be attributed to four categories of factors, none of which is sufficient. The first category includes a series of intellectual factors: a massively positivist concepti on of science, an approach to heredity that privileged a 'physiological' th eory, and a poor development of cytology. The second set of factors stems f rom the failure of French academic biologists to establish a strong interac tion with plant and animal breeding. The third factor is the relatively wea k influence of the eugenic ideology in France. Finally, the particular orga nization of French universities, together with the deaths of numerous young scientists during World War I, amplified the effects of the previous facto rs. (C) 2000 Academie des sciences/Editions scientifiques ct medicales Else vier SAS.