Ernst mayr He was an eminent systematic naturalist and ornithologist, known as the architect of the synthetic theory of evolution. He led evolutionary biologists and influenced philosophers of biology and, like Charles Darwin, worked for a better understanding of the fundamental importance of organic evolution..
Mayr fought for the recognition of the independence and autonomy of biology among the natural sciences. His research career compressed various branches of biology and spanned more than 80 years. His scientific contribution has a total of 750 articles and 21 books.
Above all, Ernst Mayr stood out as a naturalist who dedicated his entire life to trying to understand the living world and all the relationships it has, highlighting especially the areas of diversity, populations and evolutions..
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Ernst Mayr was born in Kempten, Bavaria, in Germany, on July 5, 1904. He died on February 3, 2005 in Bedford, Massachusetts, United States..
He first became interested in the study of medicine; maybe he did it following family tradition. For this reason, he studied Medicine for several years at the University of Greifswald, but then he discovered his true interest and studied Systematic Biology at the University of Berlin.
From his youth in Germany he was an avid fan of bird watching. This activity was subsequently continued in the United States. He was interested in the behavior of birds, their various ecological relationships and the environment, although in his studies he also included other groups of animals.
He worked as an assistant curator at the Natural History Museum in Berlin. He was also a curator of ornithology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York..
Followers of Ernst Mayr point out that his life and work is clearly defined by different stages, and that the transition from one stage to the other was marked by the influence of different scientists.
Among these scientists stands out Erwin Stresemann, who had been his professor in Berlin. He passed on his knowledge of modern and systematic ornithology to Mayr.
From the in-depth studies of birds that he carried out in New Guinea, Melanesia and Polynesia, Mayr managed to describe 24 species in an unprecedented way, and of these he also came to describe 400 subspecies.
A student of the theories of Dobzhansky and Darwin, he came to propose his own theory on the origin of species. This was based on the classification of fossils but in an alternative way.
In his theory, Mayr contributes new concepts about the process of realization of new species or the process of speciation. It also includes in the theory the balance achieved between the various species.
This theory includes contributions from other scientists, such as Darwin's theory and Mendel's genetic theory..
Mayr's theory has enriched various sciences, including ecology, paleontology, and especially genetics. Mayr's main contributions were documented in different publications.
He forged a synthesis of systematics, natural history, genetics, and evolution. On this subject he published a book in 1942, dedicated to the origin of different species from the point of view of zoology..
This became the founding document of the new synthetic theory of evolution. In this work Mayr explained a complete series of phenomena well known to systematists and naturalists..
Some authors point out that there is a notorious second stage in Mayr's career. This is characterized by evolutionary biology. In early 1953, Mayr began teaching zoology at Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts).
While in that position, he studied various phenomena, such as the appearance of evolutionary developments, the concepts of biological species, and the nature of the various mechanisms that lead to isolation..
He also devoted hours of study and analysis to the separations, both of an ecological and geographical nature, that occurred in the various study populations..
At this stage of his life, studies on the existence of the duality of evolution are also included: on the one hand, vertical evolution; and on the other, horizontal evolution. The latter refers to the evolution in geographic space.
There was another stage in Mayr's life dedicated to the history and philosophy of biology. It was aimed at raising new considerations on the basis of systematic and revolutionary biology.
He began during the late 1950s, but his research focused mainly after his retirement as director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University in 1970, and as a university professor in 1975..
Mayr wrote about Darwin and his time, and about the development of the synthetic theory of evolution during the 1940s. He used the theories of natural selection and popular thought as theoretical models within the framework of the historical study of biology.
The high point of his work was the publication of his books in the years 1963 and 1970. These dealt with species, evolution and populations..
In his books - and many of his articles - Mayr manifested his ability to critically synthesize the knowledge acquired in distant fields of research..
He was motivated by friends, associates, and peers to write an autobiography, but he always refused such suggestions. He thought that he could not speak well of himself without being arrogant, which did not attract his attention.
During his career he received various awards, such as honorary degrees from universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, The Sorbonne, Uppsala, and Berlin..
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