Ernst Mayr is a zoologist.

Series I contains material donated in 1979 and 1982 by Ernst Mayr. It contains correspondence with participants, prospective participants and organizers of the Conference on Evolutionary Synthesis. The letters pertain to the organization of the conference and the editing of the proceedings for publication. Also included are the responses to a questionnaire sent to most of the invited partipants prior to the conference. The material on the Princeton Conference on Genetics, Paleontology & Evolution held in 1947 conssits of a few participants' recollections solicited by Ernst Mayr in preparation for the Conference on Evolutionary Synthesis..

Series II (formerly Mss.B.M451t and mistyped as Mss.B.M451e) primarily contains typed transcripts taken from audio tape recorded during the Evolutionary Synthesis Conference of 1974. Also included are manuscripts prepared by the participants for presentation at the conference, others written following the conference for publication in The Evolutionary Synthesis (Ernst Mayr and William B. Provine, eds., Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1980), and Ernst Mayr's notes on editing the transcripts for publication. There are multiple copies of several of the transcipts in various stages of editing. Participants edited their own statements on the transcripts, while Ernst Mayr and William Provine crafted the whole into The Evolutionary Synthesis. The description "edited transcript" on the folder titles indicates that the original wording of the transcript is no longer discernible. Either the editor has obscured the original text with opaque correction fluid, marker, etc., or the transcript has been retyped. The order of the transcripts follows that of The Evolutionary Synthesis. In a few instances, excerpts of transcripts may be found in more than one location. For instance, Ernst Mayr's "How I became a Darwinian" appears in the complete transcript of the session on Germany as well as in the Biographical Essays section.

Physical description

3.25 linear feet

Provenance

Series I presented by Ernst Mayr, 1979, 1982; accessioned, 11/26/1979 (1979 2110ms). Series II presented by Ernst Mayr in 1989 (1989 3085ms).

Separated material

A small amount of material on the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) initially in Series I was later interfiled with the Society for the Study of Evolution Records (Mss.Ms.Coll.81). There was also some transfer of materials between Series I and Series II, described in full in their respective paper finding aids. Audio tapes of the conference at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences have not been donated to the APS.

Genetics Note

This collection contains materials which relate to the history of genetics.

• American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Society for the Study of Evolution

• Drafts (preliminary versions).

• Boesiger, Ernest
• Cleland, Ralph E. (Ralph Erskine), 1892-1971
• Darlington, C. D. (Cyril Dean), 1903-1981
• Dobzhansky, Theodosius Grigorievich, 1900-1975
• Ford, E. B. (Edmund Briscoe),
• Huxley, Julian, 1887-1975
• Lerner, I. Michael (Isadore Michael), 1910-1977
• Lewontin, Richard C., 1929-
• Mayr, Ernst, 1904-2005
• Metz, Charles William, 1889-1975
• Muller, H. J. (Hermann Joseph), 1890-1967
• Provine, William B.
• Rensch, Bernhard
• Sinnott, Edmund W. (Edmund Ware), 1888-1958
• Stebbins, G. Ledyard (George Ledyard), 1906-2000
• Timofeev-Resovskiĭ, N. V. (Nikolaĭ Vladimirovich), 1900-1981
• Weinstien, Alexander, 1891-1947

• Evolution -- History -- 20th century.
• Evolution.
• Genetics.
• Paleontology.
• Science -- Societies, etc.
• Science publishing.