Ernst Mayr Quotes

Ernst Walter Mayr was born in Kempten, Germany. He was a German-born American biologist and science writer. 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. In 1925 he earned a BS in Biology from the University of Greifswald. In 1926 he completed his doctorate in ornithology at the University of Berlin under Dr. Carl Zimmer. In 1953 he became Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology at Harvard University. He wrote several books include: Systematics and the Origin of Species, Birds of the Southwest Pacific, Animal Species and Evolution, The Growth of Biological Thought, Toward a New Philosophy of Biology, and What Evolution Is.