Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association © The Author 2008; all rights reserved.
Commentary: The objection is sustained: a defence of the defense of beanbag genetics
Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India. E-mail: renee@ces.iisc.ernet.in
Accepted 18 February 2008
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Darwin couched his theory of evolution by means of natural selection in verbal arguments. According to this theory, if the variation observed between individuals was heritable, and if it contributed differentially to the survivorship and reproductive success of individuals, the process of natural selection would ensure greater representation of individuals bearing favourable traits chosen from the existing variation in subsequent generations. This concept is powerful, whether verbally or mathematically articulated. Ernst Mayr was Darwin's champion in the 20th century, defending Darwin and Darwinism vigorously throughout his long and industrious career that spanned 80 years.1 However, as outlined in Borges,1 even among the Darwinists, the 1950s was a time of conflict between experimental biologists and naturalist-systematists such as Mayr on one hand and theoreticians on the other. The so-called evolutionary synthesis of the 1930s and 1940s that amalgamated Darwin's theory with genetics was largely attributed to the theoretical work of Ronald
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