Bateson, William

[person]

(August 8, 1861 - February 8, 1926) A British geneticist who was the first person to use the term genetics to describe the study of biological inheritance and heredity. In addition, he was largely responsible for popularizing the ideas of Gregor Mendel following their rediscovery in 1900 by Hugo de Vries, Erich Tschermak von Seysenegg, and Carl Correns. Bateson's most famous work, Materials for the study of variation, was published in 1894. In it, he cataloged physical variations in animal specimens, such as bees with legs instead of antenna, and humans with polydactylism (extra fingers) or extra ribs.