ERNST
MAYR
(1905
- 2005)
The
late ERNST MAYR was Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, Emeritus,
at Harvard University. He was the recipient of numerous honorary
degrees and awards, including the National Medal of Science, the
Balzan Prize, and the Japan Prize.
Mayr was one of the 20th century's leading evolutionary biologists.
His work has contributed to the conceptual revolution that led to
the synthesis of Mendelian genetics and Darwinian evolution, and
to the development of the biological species concept. His theory
of peripatric speciation has become widely accepted as one of the
standard modes of speciation, and is the basis of the theory of
punctuated equilibrium. Furthermore, his writings reflect, not only
a technical expertise in biological subjects, but also a broad and
penetrating understanding of the deeper philosophical issues involved.
Among his many books are The Growth of Biological Thought; One
Long Argument: Charles Darwin and the Genesis of Modern Evolutionary
Thought ; Population, Species, and Evolution; Systematics and the
Origin of the Species from the Viewpoint of a Zoologist; This Is
Biology; Toward a New Philosophy of Biology; Evolution and
the Diversity of Life: Selected Essays, The Evolutionary
Synthesis, and What Evolution Is (ScienceMasters Series).
Also see On the Origin of Species a Facsimile of the First
Edition By Charles Darwin, Ernst Mayr, Designer.
Mayr, born Kempten, Germany in 1904, began his studies of ornithology
at the University of Berlin where, in June, 1926, at the age of
21, he received his Ph.D. In June, 2001, to honor the 75th anniversary
of this event, the Humboldt University of Berlin awarded him a second
(and honorary) Ph.D.
Ernst Mayr: EdgeVideo
(7:30 min.)
DSL+ | Modem
|
Further
Reading on Edge:
"Ernst
Mayr: What Evolution Is": Introduction
by Jared Diamond
Beyond
Edge:
The
Ernst Mayr Library (including "Ernst Mayr: An Informal
Chronology" Compiled by Robert Young)
