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Ernst Mayr Biography

Ernst Walter Mayr (/ˈmaɪər/; 5 July 1904 – 3 February 2005) was one of the 20th century's leading evolutionary biologists. He was also a renowned taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, philosopher of biology, and historian of science. His work contributed to the conceptual revolution that led to the modern evolutionary synthesis of Mendelian genetics, systematics, and Darwinian evolution, and to the development of the biological species concept.

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Ernst Mayr Quotes

It seems to me that for Darwin the pulsing of evolutionary rates was a strictly vertical phenomenon.

Rate, Phenomenon, Seems, Strictly, Evolutionary

The most consequential change in man's view of the world, of living nature and of himself came with the introduction, over a period of some 100 years beginning only in the 18th century, of the idea of change itself, of change over periods of time: in a word, of evolution.

100, Change, Introduction, Men, Nature, Science

To take an unequivocal stand, it seems to me, is of greater heuristic value and far more likely to stimulate constructive criticism than to evade the issue.

Constructive, Criticism, Heuristics, Issues, Stimulate, Take

Two forms or species are sympatric, if they occur together, that is if their areas of distribution overlap or coincide. Two forms (or species) are allapatric, if they do not occur together, that is if they exclude each other geographically. The term allopatric is primarily useful in denoting geographic representatives.

Science, Two, Together, Sympatric, Primarily

Living in an entirely different physical as well as biotic environment, such a population would have unique opportunities to enter new niches and to select novel adaptive pathways.

Different, Novel, Opportunity, Pathways, Unique

A new species develops if a population which has become geographically isolated from its parental species acquires during this period of isolation characters which promote or guarantee reproductive isolation when the external barriers break down.

Barriers, Character, External, Population, Promote, Science

It is curious how often erroneous theories have had a beneficial effect for particular branches of science.

Science, Curiosity, Branches, Theories, Particular

Evolution thus is merely contingent on certain processes articulated by Darwin: variation and selection.

Certain, Darwin, Evolution, Process, Processes, Variation

There is more to biology than rats, Drosophila, Caenorhabditis, and E. coli.

Biology, Caenorhabditis, Drosophila, Rats

Paleontologists had long been aware of a seeming contradiction between Darwin's postulate of gradualism, confirmed by the work of population genetics, and the actual findings of paleontology. Following phyletic lines through time seemed to reveal only minimal gradual changes but no clear evidence for any change of a species into a different genus or for the gradual origin of an evolutionary novelty. Anything truly novel always seemed to appear quite abruptly in the fossil record.

Findings, Fossils, Lines, Long, Novel, Population

Life is simply the reification of the process of living.

Life Is, Process, Reification, Simply, Society

Mathematics is as little a science as grammar is a language.

Grammar, Language, Littles, Mathematics, Society

The history of science knows scores of instances where an investigator was in the possession of all the important facts for a new theory but simply failed to ask the right questions.

Ask, Facts, History, Important, Simply, Theory

anyone who writes about "Darwin's theory of evolutionin the singular, without segregating the theories of gradual evolution, common descent, speciation, and the mechanism of natural selection, will be quite unable to discuss the subject competently.

Writing, Society, Common, Unable, Writes

A species is a reproductive community of populations reproductively isolated from others that occupies a specific niche in nature.

Community, Nature, Occupies, Reproductively, Science

On Earth, among millions of lineages or organisms and perhaps 50 billion speciation events, only one led to high intelligence ; this makes me believe its utter improbablity.

Believe, Earth, Events, Improbablity, Intelligence, Speciation

I feel that one species, mankind, doesn't have the right to exterminate

Feels, Mankind, Right, Species

Indeed, I was unable to find any evidence whatsoever of the occurrence of a drastic evolutionary acceleration and genetic reconstruction in widespread, populous species.

Acceleration, Drastic, Evidence, Evolutionary, Reconstruction, Unable

Biology can be divided into the study of proximate causes, the study of the physiological sciences (broadly conceived), and into the study of ultimate (evolutionary) causes, the subject of natural history.

Causes, Divided, Physiological, Science, Study

Scientific progress consists in the development of new concepts.

Concepts, Consists, Development, Progress, Scientific, Society

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