Michael F. (Michael Frederic) Guyer

Born in 1874, Michael Frederic Guyer was an American cytologist and zoologist who taught at the University of Wisconsin, where he later chaired the zoology department. He is remembered in the history of genetics for early work linking cell studies with Mendelian inheritance.

Alongside his scientific research, he wrote for general readers as well as students. His best-known books include Being Well-Born and Our Present Knowledge of Heredity, works that introduced heredity and genetics to a broad audience in the early 20th century.

Like a number of writers on heredity in that period, he also wrote in support of eugenics. That history matters: his books are useful as windows into the science and social ideas of their time, but some arguments and assumptions in them are now rejected.