Ernst Mayr was an evolutionary biologist who informed us greatly about biodiversity who passed away at the age of one hundred.
In his travels in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, Mayr showed, unlike Darwin, that species can arise from isolated populations.
"Professor Mayr's contributions to Harvard University and to the field of evolutionary biology were extraordinary by any measure," Harvard history professor William C. Kirby said, calling Mayr a "leading mind of the 20th century." Mayr "shaped and articulated modern understanding of biodiversity and related fields," Kirby said.
Born in Kempten, Germany, Mayr joined the Harvard faculty in 1953 as a zoology professor and led Harvard's Comparative Zoology museum from 1961 to 1970. He retired in 1975.
Mayr throughout his career fought to make sure biology stood alongside physics, astronomy and chemistry. He is credited with pioneering the study of philosophy and history of biology.
"Much as we know about the 'how' of human evolution, the 'why' is still a great puzzle," he wrote in 1963.
Well, since then genetics has answered a lot of questions, so we now know that isolated populations ar far more likely to evolve into different subspecies through genetic drift. But heck, he contributed greatly into the notion of biodiversity. 100 is good.
- Art Neuro
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