Sarkar, Sahotra (2002) Evolutionary Theory in the 1920s: The Nature of the 'Synthesis'. [Preprint]

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Abstract

This paper analyzes the development of evolutionary theory in the period from 1918 to 1932. It argues that: (i) Fisher's work in 1918 constitutes a not fully satisfactory reduction of biometry to Mendelism; (ii) that there was a synthesis in the 1920s but that this synthesis was mainly one of classical genetics with population genetics, with Haldane's Causes of Evolution being its founding document; (iii) the most important achievement of the models of theoretical population genetics was to show that natural selection sufficed as a mechanism for evolution; (iv) Haldane formulated a prospective evolutionary theory in the 1920s whereas Fisher and Wright formulated retrospective theories of evolutionary history; and (v) in the context of the history of evolutionary biology, the differences between Fisher, Haldane, and Wright are as important as their similarities.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Sarkar, Sahotra
Keywords:	evolutionary theory, Fisher, Haldane, modern synthesis, population genetics, Wright.
Depositing User:	Sahotra Sarkar
Date Deposited:	14 Aug 2002
Last Modified:	13 Sep 2015 15:16
Item ID:	722
Date:	August 2002
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/722

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