Ernst Mayr: Some Questions Answered

Extract

Ornithology, Evolution, and Philosophy: The Life and Science of Ernst Mayr 1904-2005. Jürgen Haffer. Springer, New York, 2008. 474 pp., illus. $59.95 (ISBN 9783540717782 paper).

Every evolutionary biologist has read something by Ernst Mayr, for he was one of the 20th century's great evolutionists. In Ornithology, Evolution, and Philosophy, Jürgen Haffer chronicles Mayr's life and his research. This is essentially a long obituary rather than a critical examination of Mayr's work, written by an obvious admirer. Haffer spent much time talking to Mayr and had access to letters and autobiographical notes. The book includes such details as pictures of Mayr's first car, his medical history, a list of his graduate students and their achievements, and histograms of Mayr's publications by field of study and date. Although a little repetitive and difficult to follow in places, the book will be useful not only to Mayr scholars but also to anyone wishing to understand the progress of evolutionary biology through the last century.