Evolution Made to Order

Helen Anne Curry is the Peter Lipton Lecturer in History of Modern Science and Technology at the University of Cambridge.

• List of Abbreviations  Introduction  Part 1   Evolution by X-ray: The Industrialization of Biological Innovation  1          Mutation Theories2          An Unsolved Problem3          Speeding Up Evolution4          X-rays in the Lab and Field5          Industrial Evolution  Part 2   Tinkering with Chromosomes: Colchicine in the Lab and Garden  6          Artificial Tetraploidy7          Evolution to Order8          Better Evolution through Chemistry9          Tinkering Technologists10        The Flower Manufacturers  Part 3   Atoms for Agriculture: Evolution in a Large Technological System  11        Radiation Revisited12        Mutation Politics13        An Atomic-Age Experiment Station14        Atomic Gardens15        The Peaceful Atom in Global Agriculture  Epilogue  AcknowledgmentsNotesBibliographyIndex

"A fascinating foray into a mutated cornucopia of agricultural and horticultural products and the tools that made them. Such varied and important insights into the history of biological innovation and its many aspirations seem as relevant as ever in our ongoing search for new tools to reshape living things to our goals, needs, and desires—and to envision life as it could be."