Masterminding Nature

Margaret E. Derry is an adjunct professor in the Department of History and associated faculty at the Campbell Centre for Animal Welfare in the Department of Animal and Poultry Science at the University of Guelph.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Artificial Selection Theory and Livestock Breeding, 1750–19002. Early Developments in Genetics3. Practical Breeding via Theoretical Population Genetics4. New Directions: Artificial Insemination Technology and Quantitative Genetics5. Molecular Genetics, Genomics, and Livestock Breeding6. Biology, Industry Needs, and Morality in Livestock BreedingConclusionsNotesGlossaryBibliography

‘This is a richly informative book that draws on Derry’s academic training and long experience as practical breeder.’- Ann Norton Greene (Agricultural History vol 90:01:2016) ‘This is a historian with deep and personal fascination for the world of animal breeding… There is much information in this book. It can be used as a reference for the key movements, ideas and people in the history of animal breeding.’- Jennifer Adlem (The British Journal for the History of Science vol 49:01:2016) ‘Masterminding Nature is an informative account of the various innovations that have marked the livestock industry.’- Anna Thompson Hajdik (Business History Review vol 90:01:2016) ‘Masterminding Nature is an ambitious and a valuable contribution to the literature.’- Rebecca J.H. Woods (Endeavour vol 30:10:2016) ‘The book offers a gold mine of information for historians of breeding and of the agricultural sciences more generally, and several of its overreaching themes are potentially of interest to a wider range of historians.’- Jonathan Harwood (Isis Journal September 2016)