William Bateson gave two addresses at the Toronto meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in December 1921. Although both were controversial, the text of the second, "The Outlook of Genetics," was never published. I present a transcript of a partial text and notes of this address in which Bateson explains, for the first time in public, a recent change in his views on the chromosome theory of heredity which resulted from a week spent with T. H. Morgan's group in New York en route to Toronto. He now accepts "the main essentials" but withholds assent from what he calls "the many extensions" of chromosome theory (such as linkage theory). He devotes considerably more space to discussing what he sees as difficulties precluding an unqualified acceptance of chromosome theory in its entirety. All in all, his tone is defiant rather than penitent.

Chromosomes↗

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Bateson's two Toronto addresses, 1921: 2. Evolutionary faith.

William Bateson's plenary address to the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Toronto in 1921 was titled "Evolutionary Faith and Modern Doubts." In it he expressed his deep-seated skepticism about the causes of evolution (and in particular, his dissatisfaction with Darwinian natural selection) while reaffirming his belief in the reality of evolution itself. The address led to controversy at both the scientific and popular levels. Scientific criticism centered on Bateson's rejection of natural selection; popular controversy, as evidenced by contemporary newspaper clippings, was very widespread, not least because religious fundamentalists misrepresented Bateson in their campaign against evolution. I draw attention to the forgotten case of F.E. Dean, a superintendent of schools at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, who in 1922 was forced to resign his post for merely challenging a resolution of the local school board banning the teaching of evolution in schools. Dean deserves to be remembered, along with John T. Scopes, as an early hero of the continuing fight for the right to teach evolution in U.S. schools.

Biological Evolution↗