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The Modern Synthesis: Theoretical or Institutional Event?

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Abstract

This paper surveys questions about the nature of the Modern Synthesis as a historical event : was it rather theoretical than institutional? When and where did it actually happen? Who was involved? It argues that all answers to these questions are interrelated, and that systematic sets of answers define specific perspectives on the Modern Synthesis that are all complementary.

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Notes

  1. See, for example, Cain (2000) on the Society for the Study of Speciation, which was conjointly British and American, and Depew (2011) on the UK versus the US tradition within the Modern Synthesis.

  2. For an analysis of Simpson’s role, see Reif et al. (2000).

  3. In a note, Simpson stated that if one were considering the period since 1945, hundreds of names could be added.

  4. On Alfred Emerson, see the paper by Huneman, this issue.

  5. On Simpson, see the paper by Sepkoski, this issue.

  6. Julian Huxley to Ernst Mayr, 3 September 1951. Papers of Ernst Mayr. HUGFP 14.15 Box 1. Harvard University Archives, Cambridge, MA.

  7. That is, according to speech act theory developed by the philosopher John L. Austin.

  8. On paleobiology, see Sepkoski’s paper, this issue.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne/IHPST (CNRS), Paris, France

    Jean Gayon

  2. Institut d’Histoire et de Philosophie des sciences et des techniques (CNRS/Université Paris I Panthéon Sorbonnne), Paris, France

    Philippe Huneman

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  1. Jean Gayon
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  2. Philippe Huneman
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Correspondence to Philippe Huneman.

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Jean Gayon’s manuscript for this special issue on the Modern Synthesis was left incomplete at the time of his death on 28 April 2018. In publishing this piece posthumously, we wish to honor the importance of Jean Gayon’s scholarship for the history of evolutionary theory and for the history of biology. We are very grateful to Philippe Huneman for agreeing to take on the herculean task of trying to “complete” Jean’s piece, and to our outside reviewers for their very helpful suggestions.

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Gayon, J., Huneman, P. The Modern Synthesis: Theoretical or Institutional Event?. J Hist Biol 52, 519–535 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10739-019-09569-2

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