Ernst Mayr

Ernst Mayr (1904-2005), born in Kempten, Germany, was an American ornithologist and theoretical biologist based at Harvard University. He, along with Theodosius Dobzhansky, George Gaylord Simpson, and G. Ledyard Stebbins, founded the "Modern Synthesis" in evolutionary biology. "The Modern Synthesis sought to integrate Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection with the recent development of population genetics by R. A. Fisher, Sewall Wright, and J. B. S. Haldane."

He wrote many books, articles and papers. In his 90s he wrote This is Biology: The Science of the Living World. In the opening chapter, What Is the Meaning of “Life” , he declares that understanding 'life' is one of the major objectives of biology.

Evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr (1904-2005) in 1994. From Meyer A (2005) On the importance of being Ernst Mayr. PLoS Biol 3(5): e152

Bibliography

• Mayr, Ernst. The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance Belknap Press, 1982, a major history of biology; online edition
• Mayr, Ernst. Populations, Species, and Evolution (1971) (ISBN: 0674690133)
• Mayr, Ernst. "Speciation and Selection." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 93#6 (1949) pp 514-519 online edition

About Mayr

• Frank B. Gill. "Ernst Mayr, the Ornithologist," Evolution, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Feb., 1994), pp. 12-18 in JSTOR
• Stephen Jay Gould. "Ernst Mayr and the Centrality of Species,"

Evolution, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Feb., 1994), pp. 31-35 in JSTOR

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