Works by Ernst Mayr
75 found
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- The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance.Ernst Mayr -1982 - Harvard University Press.Explores the development of the ideas of evolutionary biology, particularly as affected by the increasing understanding of genetics and of the chemical basis of inheritance.
- Animal Species and Evolution.Ernst Mayr -1963 - Belknap of Harvard University Press.Comprehensive evaluation and study of man's theories and knowledge of genetical characteristics and the evolutionary processes.
- Toward a new philosophy of biology: observations of an evolutionist.Ernst Mayr -1988 - Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.Provides a philosophical analysis of such biological concepts as natural selection, adaptation, speciation, and evolution.
- Populations, species and evolution: An abridgment of Animal species and evolution.Ernst Mayr -1970 - Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.In the Preface of Animal Species and Evolution (1963), I wrote that it was "an attempt to summarize and review critically what we know about the biology and genetics of animal species and their role in evolution." The result was a volume of XIV ...
- (1 other version)Principles of Systematic Zoology.Ernst Mayr -1969 - McGraw-Hill.
- What Evolution Is.Ernst Mayr -2001 - Phoenix.Provides a thorough overview of historical and contemporary theories of evolution, discusses key concepts and terms, and argues that our understanding of evolution has changed the beliefs and values of modern humankind. Reprint. 30,000 first printing.
- What makes biology unique?: considerations on the autonomy of a scientific discipline.Ernst Mayr -2004 - New York: Cambridge University Press.This collection of revised and new essays argues that biology is an autonomous science rather than a branch of the physical sciences. Ernst Mayr, widely considered the most eminent evolutionary biologist of the 20th century, offers insights on the history of evolutionary thought, critiques the conditions of philosophy to the science of biology, and comments on several of the major developments in evolutionary theory. Notably, Mayr explains that Darwin's theory of evolution is actually five separate theories, each with its own (...) history, trajectory and impact. Ernst Mayr, commonly referred to as the "Darwin of the 20th century" and listed as one of the top 100 scientists of all-time, is Professor Emeritus at Harvard University. What Makes Biology Unique is the 25th book he has written during his long and prolific career. His recent books include This is Biology: The Science of the Living World (Belknap Press, 1997) and What Evolution Is (Basic Books, 2002). (shrink)
- Systematics and the origin of species from the viewpoint of a zoologist.Ernst Mayr -1942 - Columbia University Press.WE HAVE LEARNED in the preceding chapter that a revolutionary change of the species concept is in the making, a change which not only affects taxonomic procedure, but which also contributes considerably toward a better understanding of ...
- One long argument: Charles Darwin and the genesis of modern evolutionary thought.Ernst Mayr -1991 - Cambridge: Harvard University Press.This is an important book for students, biologists, and general readers interested in the history of ideas--especially ideas that have radically altered our ...
- Teleological and teleonomic, a new analysis.Ernst Mayr -1974 - In R. S. Cohen & Marx W. Wartofsky,Methodological and historical essays in the natural and social sciences. Boston,: Reidel. pp. 91--117.
- Darwinism Evolving. System Dynamics and the Genealogy of Natural Selection.David J. Depew,Bruce H. Weber &Ernst Mayr -1996 -History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 18 (1):135.
- Toward a New Philosophy of Biology.Ernst Mayr -1990 -Journal of the History of Biology 23 (2):321-328.
- (1 other version)Typological versus population thinking.Ernst Mayr -1994 - In Elliott Sober,Conceptual Issues in Evolutionary Biology. The Mit Press. Bradford Books. pp. 157--160.
- Essay Review: The Tormenting Desire for Unity.Ernst Mayr &Edward O. Wilson -1999 -Journal of the History of Biology 32 (2):385-394.
- What is a species, and what is not?Ernst Mayr -1996 -Philosophy of Science 63 (2):262-277.I analyze a number of widespread misconceptions concerning species. The species category, defined by a concept, denotes the rank of a species taxon in the Linnaean hierarchy. Biological species are reproducing isolated from each other, which protects the integrity of their genotypes. Degree of morphological difference is not an appropriate species definition. Unequal rates of evolution of different characters and lack of information on the mating potential of isolated populations are the major difficulties in the demarcation of species taxa.
- The Idea of Teleology.Ernst Mayr -1992 -Journal of the History of Ideas 53 (1):117-135.
- The ontological status of species: Scientific progress and philosophical terminology.Ernst Mayr -1987 -Biology and Philosophy 2 (2):145-66.
- One Long Argument: Charles Darwin and the Genesis of Modern Evolutionary Thought.Ernst Mayr -1993 -Journal of the History of Biology 26 (2):378-380.
- Species Concepts and Definitions.Ernst Mayr -1957 - InThe Species Problem. American Association for the Advancement of Science. pp. 1-22.
- Evolution.Ernst Mayr -1978 -Scientific American 239:46-55.
- Proximate and ultimate causations.Ernst Mayr -1993 -Biology and Philosophy 8 (1):93-94.
- What Makes Biology Unique? Considerations on the Autonomy of a Scientific Discipline.Ernst Mayr -2005 -Journal of the History of Biology 38 (3):609-614.
- Speciation Phenomena in Birds.Ernst Mayr -1940 -American Naturalist 74 (752):249-278.
- When is historiography whiggish?Ernst Mayr -1990 -Journal of the History of Ideas 51 (2):301-309.
- Answers to these comments.Ernst Mayr -1987 -Biology and Philosophy 2 (2):212-225.
- Darwin's principle of divergence.Ernst Mayr -1992 -Journal of the History of Biology 25 (3):343-359.
- The Multiple Meanings of 'Teleological'.Ernst Mayr -1998 -History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 20 (1):35 - 40.
- Footnotes on the philosophy of biology.Ernst Mayr -1969 -Philosophy of Science 36 (2):197-202.No other branch of the philosophy of science is as backward as the philosophy of biology. When physicists or philosophers “explain biology,” they not only tend to use wrong terminologies but they usually throw away that which is typically biological. This error is second only to the even worse one of adopting vitalistic interpretations. Vitalism is now dead, as far as biologists are concerned, and a biologist can now talk about the differences between the philosophy of physics and the philosophy (...) of biology without being suspected of being a concealed vitalist. (shrink)
- Methods and Principles of Systematic Zoology.Ernst Mayr,E. Gorton Linsley &Robert L. Usinger -1953 - McGraw-Hill Book Company.
- Biological Classification: Toward a Synthesis of Opposing Methodologies.Ernst Mayr -1994 - In Elliott Sober,Conceptual Issues in Evolutionary Biology. The Mit Press. Bradford Books. pp. 510--277.
- Lamarck revisited.Ernst Mayr -1972 -Journal of the History of Biology 5 (1):55-94.
- The Biological Species Concept.Ernst Mayr -2000 - In Quentin D. Wheeler & Rudolf Meier,Species Concepts and Phylogenetic Theory. Columbia. pp. 17-29.
- The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance. [REVIEW]Ernst Mayr -1985 -Journal of the History of Biology 18 (1):145-153.
- Weismann and evolution.Ernst Mayr -1985 -Journal of the History of Biology 18 (3):295-329.
- The Species Problem.Ernst Mayr (ed.) -1957 - American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- Response to John Beatty.Ernst Mayr -1994 -Biology and Philosophy 9 (3):357-358.
- The why and how of species.Ernst Mayr -1988 -Biology and Philosophy 3 (4):431-441.The biological species concept deals both with the meaning of the sexual species as a harmonious gene pool and with its protection against deleterious outbreeding (effected by isolating mechanisms). According to the Darwin-Muller-Mayr theory isolating mechanisms are acquired by incipient species during alloparty. Isolating mechanisms are not the result of ad hoc selection, but of a change of function of properties acquired during the preceding isolation of the incipient species. The role of behavioral properties (recognition) among the isolating mechanisms has (...) long been recognized and described by naturalists but was rejected as basis of a species definition for a number of valid reasons. (shrink)
- Commentary?Part I.Ernst Mayr &Ernest Nagel -1969 -Journal of the History of Biology 2 (1):123-147.
- Comments on David Hull's Paper on Exemplars and Type Specimens.Ernst Mayr -1982 -PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1982:504 - 511.The type in taxonomy is not meant to be a particularly typical specimen, but simply a reference specimen suited to serve as a 'name bearer' whenever doubt arises concerning the identity of a species. The minimum requirement is that the specimen reflects some differentiating characteristics of the species. In analogy, only such individuals should be made the type of an ideological system as adhere to the principal ideologies of that system. Only such an evolutionist could serve as type for Darwinism (...) who on the whole accepts gradual evolution and, as the major moving force in evolution, natural selection. It is very questionable whether the type-method would be of any use where highly heterogeneous, open, or rapidly evolving systems are involved. When the meaning of a system is changing it is less confusing to redefine it than to coin a new term for each change. (shrink)
- Illiger and the biological species concept.Ernst Mayr -1968 -Journal of the History of Biology 1 (2):163-178.
- Response to Walter Bock.Ernst Mayr -1994 -Biology and Philosophy 9 (3):329-331.
- Allgemeine Betrachtungen über die Triebe der Thiere, hauptsächlich über ihre Kunsttriebe.Hermann Samuel Reimarus,Ernst Mayr,Stefan Lorenz,Winfried Schröder &Jürgen von Kempski -1983 -Studia Leibnitiana 15 (2):234-236.No categories
- What is Darwinism Today?Ernst Mayr -1984 -PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1984:145 - 156.Modern Darwinism is an elaboration of Darwin's original theories. The misunderstandings of the synthetic theory, on which recent attacks are based, are analyzed in detail. Six areas are described in which current theory modifies or amplifies Darwin's thinking. The rejection of an inheritance of acquired characters, the greater role assigned to chance in the production of genetic variability, the knowledge of the total separation of genotype and phenotype, and the clearer recognition of the role of the individual as target of (...) selection, are among the modern amplifications of the Darwinian theory. Remaining gaps in our understanding of evolution are specified. (shrink)
- A response to David Kitts.Ernst Mayr -1988 -Biology and Philosophy 3 (1):97-98.
- (1 other version)The autonomy of biology.Ernst Mayr -2004 -Ludus Vitalis: Revista de Filosofía de Las Ciencias de la Vida, México 12 (21):15-28.
- Reasons for the failure of theories.Ernst Mayr -1994 -Philosophy of Science 61 (4):529-533.A theory may be invalid, not owing to erroneous observations or the invocation of an inappropriate law, but because of the use of equivocal terms. This is demonstrated for Darwin's failed model of sympatric speciation through the principle of divergence.
- Systems of ordering data.Ernst Mayr -1995 -Biology and Philosophy 10 (4):419-434.Four ordering systems have been used most frequently in taxonomy: (1) special purpose classifications, (2) downward classifications (identification schemes), (3) upward or grouping classifications (traditional), and (4) Hennigian phylogenetic systems. The special properties of these four systems are critically evaluated. Grouping classifications and phylogenetic systems have very different objectives: the former the documentation of similarity and closeness of relationship, the latter of phylogeny. Both are legitimate ordering systems.
- The death of Darwin?Ernst Mayr -1986 -Revue de Synthèse 107 (3):229-235.No categories
- Dean of the Birdwatchers.William Davis &Ernst Mayr -1995 -History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 17 (3):503.Export citation
Bookmark - Response to Richard Burkhardt.Ernst Mayr -1994 -Biology and Philosophy 9 (3):373-374.
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David Bourget (Western Ontario)
David Chalmers (ANU, NYU)
Area Editors:
David Bourget
Gwen Bradford
Berit Brogaard
Margaret Cameron
David Chalmers
James Chase
Rafael De Clercq
Ezio Di Nucci
Esa Diaz-Leon
Barry Hallen
Hans Halvorson
Jonathan Ichikawa
Monte Johnson
Michelle Kosch
Øystein Linnebo
Paul Livingston
Brandon Look
Manolo Martínez
Matthew McGrath
Michiru Nagatsu
Susana Nuccetelli
Giuseppe Primiero
Jack Alan Reynolds
Darrell P. Rowbottom
Aleksandra Samonek
Constantine Sandis
Howard Sankey
Jonathan Schaffer
Thomas Senor
Daniel Star
Jussi Suikkanen
Aness Kim Webster
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