Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 4Th Series
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Vol. 48, No. 6, pp. 131-140 December 21, 1993 FIFTY YEARS OF PROGRESS IN RESEARCH ON SPECIES AND SPECIATIONanne Biological Labo *oods Hole OceiograSc Stion Ub By «7. Ernst Mayr Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 Woods Hole, MA 02543 Adapted from a lecture delivered at the Golden Jubilee Celebration of the publication of Systematics and the Origin of Species at the California Academy of Sciences on October 16, 1992. Received December 31, 1992. Accepted February 11, 1993. Historians of science have taught us how much the nature of the genetic material, resulting in one can learn from studying the history of a field the theory of particulate inheritance. However, of science. This is excellently illustrated by the they drew from this the wrong conclusion as far history of evolutionary biology as a whole, and as evolution is concerned, claiming that new spe- by our growing understanding of species and spe- cies were produced by new mutations in a single ciation, in particular. saltation, completely rejecting Darwin's theory After 1859, two of Darwin's theories were ac- of gradualism. Their opponents were the biom- cepted almost at once. First, evolution as such, etricians, such as Pearson and Weldon, who cor- and secondly, the branching theory of common rectly insisted on the gradualness of evolution descent. Natural selection was with almost equal but incorrectly claimed that inheritance was unanimity rejected, being accepted only by a small equally gradual, that is, blending. As far as ge- group of naturalists. This was not too surprising netics is concerned, the Mendelians were right; since at that time no one understood variation as far as evolution is concerned, the biometri- and its origin.
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