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DISCIPLINING EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY: ERNST MAYR AND THE FOUNDING OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF EVOLUTION AND EVOLUTION (1939–1950)
Author(s) -
Smocovitis Vassiliki Betty
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1994.tb01287.x
Subject(s) - biology , biological evolution , evolutionary biology , modern evolutionary synthesis , epistemology , environmental ethics , genetics , philosophy
Ernst Mayr's contributions to the growth of evolutionary biology have been more multifaceted than his scientific work alone, impressive as that is. In addition to the publication of his Systematics and the Origin of Species in 1942, which effectively brought systematics into the wider Evolutionary Synthesis (and earned him one of the principal roles as architect), as well as his extensive postsynthesis work in evolution and systematics, Mayr has played the roles of historian, philosopher, organizer, and general promoter of evolutionary biology. So critical are these roles, that, taken as a whole, the best way to view Ernst Mayr is as a chief discipline builder (if not the chief discipline builder) of evolutionary biology. In this paper, I examine one little-known feature of Mayr's work that brings into relief, if only partially, this disciplining role: his organizational efforts to found a society for the study of evolution and his sponsorship and editorship of the journal Evolution in the years 1939-1950. This paper and the larger study that provides full documentation (Smocovitis 1994) are based on examination of the historical record of the papers left by the successive secretaries of the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) and now housed in the archives of the American Philosophical Society. EARLY HISTORY OF THE SSE: THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF SPECIATION AND THE COMMITTEE ON COMMON PROBLEMS IN GENETICS, PALEONTOLOGY AND SYSTEMATICS