Who was Ernst Walter Mayr?
Q: Who was Ernst Walter Mayr?
A: Ernst Walter Mayr was a German American scientist who was one of the 20th century's leading evolutionary biologists. He was also a well-known taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, historian of science, and naturalist.
Q: What did he contribute to?
A: He contributed to the modern evolutionary synthesis and was especially interested in how new species formed.
Q: Where did he work?
A: He joined the faculty of Harvard University in 1953 and served as director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology from 1961 to 1970. He retired in 1975 as emeritus professor of zoology.
Q: How many books did he publish?
A: He published 25 books throughout his career, 14 of which were published after he turned 65 years old. Even as a centenarian, he continued to write books.
Q: Did Mayr receive any awards for his work?
A: Yes, Mayr received the Linnean Society's prestigious Darwin-Wallace Medal in 1958 and won a 1999 Crafoord Prize which honors basic research in fields that do not qualify for Nobel awards and is administered by the same organization as the Nobel Prize.
Q: Why didn't Mayr win a Nobel Prize?
A: There is no Nobel Prize for evolutionary biology so Mayr never received one even though he commented that Darwin would not have received one either.
