What is Reginald Punnett?
'''Reginald Crundall Punnett''' [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] ([[Tonbridge]], [[Kent]], 20 June 1875 – Bilbrook, [[Somerset]], 3 January 1967) was a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[genetics|geneticist]]. He became Professor of Biology and then Professor of [[Genetics]] at the [[University of Cambridge]]. He co-founded, with [[William Bateson]], the ''Journal of Genetics'' in 1910. Punnett is probably best remembered today as the creator of the '''Punnett square''', a tool still used by [[biologist]]s to predict the [[probability]] of possible [[genotype]]s of offspring. His ''Mendelism'' (1905) is sometimes said to have been the first textbook on genetics; it was probably the first [[popular science]] book to introduce genetics to the public. == Life and work == Reginald Punnett was born in 1875 in the town of Tonbridge in Kent, England. While recovering from a childhood bout of appendicitis, Punnett became acquainted with Jardine's Naturalist's Library and developed an interest in natural history. Attending the [[University of Cambridge]], Punnett earned a degree in zoology in 1898, and a masters in 1902.<ref>{{Citation|editor1=Venn, J.|editor2=Venn, J. A.|year=1922–1958|url=http://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search.pl?sur=&suro=c&fir=&firo=c&cit=&cito=c&c=all&tex=PNT894RC&sye=&eye=&col=all&maxcount=50|title=Punnett, Reginald Crundall|series=Alumni Cantabrigienses|edition=online|publisher=Cambridge University Press|accessdate=2013-05-06|archive-date=2012-05-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531141706/http://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search.pl?sur=&suro=c&fir=&firo=c&cit=&cito=c&c=all&tex=PNT894RC&sye=&eye=&col=all&maxcount=50|url-status=dead}}</ref> Between these degrees he worked as a demonstrator and part-time lecturer at the [[St Andrews#The University of St. Andrews|University of St Andrews]] Natural History Department. However, by 1902 Punnett was back at Cambridge working in zoology, primarily the study of [[nematode]] worms. It was during this time that he and William Bateson began a