Hybrid: the history and science of plant breeding

Contents......Page 6
Acknowledgments......Page 14
A Note on Names......Page 16
Introduction......Page 18
Part One: From the Birth of Agriculture to the Birth of Genetics......Page 30
One. Origins: The Domestication of Plants......Page 32
Two. Landraces: Bedrock of Traditional Agriculture......Page 55
Three. “Improvement”: The Agricultural Revolution......Page 72
Four. Vegetable Mules:The Beginnings of Deliberate Breeding......Page 85
Five. Empire: Globalization in Earnest......Page 114
Six. Breakthrough: Gregor Mendel......Page 159
Seven. Germination: Mendelism and Plant Breeding in the Early Twentieth Century......Page 184
Eight. Luther Burbank: Miracle Worker or Charlatan?......Page 204
Nine. “Let History Judge”: Plant Breeding and Politics in the USSR......Page 214
Part Two: Flowering of a Technology......Page 232
Ten. Hybrid! Corn and the Brave New World of F1 Hybridization......Page 234
Eleven. Cornucopia: Genetics Opens up the Horn of Plenty......Page 268
Twelve. Green Revolution: Can Plant Breeding Feed the World?......Page 301
Thirteen. Ornament: Furnishing Our Gardens......Page 346
Fourteen. Ownership and Diversity: Issues of Property Rights over Plant Genetic Resources......Page 381
Fifteen. Conclusions......Page 415
Technical Notes......Page 438
Bibliographic Essay......Page 454
Works Cited and Consulted......Page 468
Index......Page 494