Magazine R145
One Long Argument, the title ofone of Ernst Mayr’s later
popularbooks on evolution, in manyways sums up the core of
hisintellectual life. Mayr, a leadingevolutionary biologist over
manyyears of the past century, whodied aged 100 last month, wasan
explorer, naturalist,ornithologist, philosopher,historian of
science and Harvardacademic.
Like Darwin, he was studyingmedicine when his focus wasdiverted
to natural history. In his20s he grasped opportunities fortropical
expeditions and histravels shaped his life. Hisachievements were
the result ofbeing profoundly enthralled by thewonders of nature
and applyinghis sharp inquisitive mind tofinding logical answers,
supportedby scientific research.
Mayr was a birdwatcher fromchildhood, influenced by his
father,Otto. At 10, he could identify manyspecies around the
southernGerman town of Kempten. But themost significant event that
yearwas his sighting of a pair of red-crested pochards, not
recorded inGermany since 1846. He recalledthat his life would have
beencompletely different had it notbeen for those ducks.
They brought him to theattention of Professor ErwinStresemann,
curator of birds atthe Berlin Natural HistoryMuseum; Mayr was
invited towork there during vacations,classifying tropical
birdspecimens. He recalled it was likebeing ‘given the keys to
heaven.’
An ornithology doctoratefollowed in 1925, and he becamethe
museum’s curator in 1926. Atthe 1927 International
ZoologicalCongress at Budapest, he met thebanker Lord Walter
Rothschild,who had a private museum atTring, in southern
England.Rothschild was assembling theworld’s most comprehensive
birdcollection, and Mayr did nothesitate when offered the job ofNew
Guinea staff naturalist. His
1928–29 experiences thereincluded journeys through sixunexplored
mountain ranges.
He was then invited to lead a1929–30 expedition to theSolomon
Islands, sponsored bythe American philanthropist HarryPayne
Whitney. This madeimportant contributions to biology,discovered
scores of species and
filled a hall at New York’s Museumof Natural History.
In the early 1930s Mayr wasbriefly curator of Rothschild’sTring
collection and might wellhave stayed in England. But whenthe banker
plunged into financialcrisis, 280,000 of his bird skinswere sold to
the New Yorkmuseum. This was Mayr’s base for
Obituary
Ernst Mayr: 1904 – 2005
Life’s work: This popular book by Ernst Mayr, published in the
1990s, encapsulateshis enthusiasm for Darwin’s evolutionary theory.
Mayr’s life in some ways mirroredthat of Darwin’s in the early
years.
21 years — as the Whitney-Rothschild collection’s
associatecurator from 1932 to 1944, andcurator to 1953.
His early work guidedTheodosius Dobzhansky’sGenetics and the
Origin ofSpecies (1937), which founded thesynthetic theory of
evolution. WithJulian Huxley and George GaylordSimpson, he helped
incorporatenew discoveries by naturalists andpopulation geneticists
into theframework of Darwinian theory.
Harvard was important to thesecond half of his life, he
wasprofessor of zoology from 1953 to1975 and also directed
theuniversity’s Museum ofComparative Zoology from 1961to 1970. His
interest inevolutionary biology, and thehistory and philosophy of
biologygrew. His Animal Species andEvolution (1963) had new views
onthe nature of species.
His later years were dominatedby continuing his argument intothe
development of a philosophyof biology. Mayr was acutelyaware of the
distinction betweenbiological principles and those ofthe physical
sciences. As physicalscience had an increasing inputinto the
workings of biology hisplangent voice grew stronger. Hisone long
argument, backed by alifetime of solid practical work, issure to
endure. “I’m an old-timefighter for Darwinism,” he told theHarvard
University Gazette in1991. “I say: ‘Please tell me whatis wrong
with Darwinism. I don’tsee anything wrong.’”
Nigel Williams
“Das eigentliche Studium derMenschheit ist der
Mensch”,“Mankind’s actual study is man”;with this statement, the
Germanpoet and polymath J.W. Goethe(1749–1832) captured the
factmuch of human intellectualendeavour — in art, literature
andphilosophy — has tried to answerthe question of what it means
tobe human. Not far from Goethe’scity of Weimar, in Leipzig,
theMax-Planck-Institute forEvolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA)
provides scientists from aseemingly disparate set of
fields,including psychology, linguistics,primatology,
paleoanthropologyand genetics, with an idealenvironment to address
humanevolution.
Leipzig is now a booming city inthe east of Germany, but
theremnants of 40 years ofcommunism, seen by itsproponents as a
practical answerto the human condition, are stilltangible
throughout the town.There are fading signs advertisingproducts from
the ‘people’sfactories’, a brass plate on a hotelannouncing the
fact that KarlMarx, ‘founder of scientificsocialism’ spent a night
here, andthe characteristic ready-madehousing blocks,
the‘Plattenbauten’ that line the widestreets for miles.
Amidst such blocks the Max-Planck society, Germany’sleading
research body, has setup a stylish and light newbuilding which has
been thehome of the MPI-EVA since 2003.When officially founded in
1997,the MPI-EVA was the firstinstitute of anthropology startedby
the Max-Planck society sincethe end of World War II. This
reluctance to be involved inanthropology was in large partdue to
the fact that Hitler’snational socialist regime hadabused
anthropology — in thosetimes called ‘Rassenkunde’ (thestudy of
races) — to provide ascientific foundation for thesuperiority of a
white race andthe crimes committed againsthumans all over Europe in
itswake. The rehabilitation ofanthropology in Germany is likelyto
have been facilitated by theclear evidence from modernmolecular
genetic data againstthe idea that there are largedifferences
between, and relativehomogeneity within, so-calledraces.
The tower of BabelWhat makes us human? Part ofthe answer lies in
our ability to askthe question: language. Of course,other animals
do have —sometimes sophisticated —communication systems, but
thehuman language is unique in itscomplexity and versatility, a
factthat is reflected in the sheernumber of different
languages.Today something like 6500languages exist, each with
acomparably high grammatical andlexical complexity. In the
past,largely influenced by NoamChomsky’s enormous body ofwork,
linguistics has emphasisedthe universal features of grammarand
language.
A group of linguists in Leipzig,however, takes a
differentapproach. Martin Haspelmath andBernard Comrie are charting
thetypological differences andgrammatical complexity of theworld’s
languages. The outcomeof this 5-year effort involving
Current Biology Vol 15 No 5R146
Darwin’s champion: Ernst Mayr, whodied last month, spent his
researchcareer bolstering Darwinism.
Feature
Planet of the apes
What makes us humans so special? Our language, our genes,
ourculture, our cognitive skills? At the Max-Planck-Institute for
EvolutionaryAnthropology in Leipzig, psychologists, linguists and
biologists tacklethis old question in a truly multidisciplinary
way. Their results haveimplications not just for our understanding
of human evolution — theyalso touch directly on many social and
environmental issues. FlorianMaderspacher reports.