Ornithology, Evolution, and Philosophy 123

232 5 Biological Species and Speciation—Mayr’s First Synthesis
[of geographical isolation as a causal factor of speciation] than were their Russian
colleagues” (p. 38). “In my opinion, the essence of the biological species concept
was clearly formulated in the theoretical papers of leading Russian entomologists
in the prerevolutionary decades.” However, they were not the first to develop the
BSC, nor were E. B. Poulton or K. Jordan whose work Mayr (l.c.) discussed in
detail.
Building on the work of Stresemann, Rensch, Dobzhansky, and several earlier
authors mentioned above, Mayr (1942e, 1963b, 1970e) combined systematic,
genetic and ecological aspects, analyzed the speciation process and thus established
the theoretical BSC in all its ramifications. Through his contributions, the
BSC became one of the central tenets of the modern synthetic theory of evolution.
Although he was not the originator of the BSC, he demonstrated its validity
more convincingly than anyone else before and proposed a superior and concise
definition which has been widely adopted.
Community Architect
During the 1940s Ernst Mayr became increasingly active in founding specialty
groups beyond ornithology (where he had initiated intellectual changes first in the
Linnaean Society of New York and then in the American Ornithologists’ Union; see
pp. 109 and 122–124), as an aggressive reformer and administrator in committees
and societies, and active in modernization of research infrastructure. Whereas
some of his colleagues like Simpson and Dobzhansky were willing to be presidents
of societies but avoided administrative burden, Mayr saw himself repeatedly at the
center of such enterprises. He became an organizer first within the “Committee of
Common Problems of Genetics, Paleontology, and Systematics,” later within the
Society for the Study of Evolution, the Society of Systematic Zoology and again
in the American Ornithologists’ Union. He strove to produce formal networks of
communication, i.e., professional journals and approved programs at scientific
meetings, for he wanted more than merely exchanging information. His interests
were synthetic and constructive; he aimed at theory-building and integration.
Joe Cain (1994 ff.) studied the progress of the evolutionary synthesis during the
1930s and 1940s emphasizing professional and intellectual infrastructure, i.e.,
journals, societies, committees, workshops, meetings, communication networks,
funding, etc. In conjunction with these analyses he has traced Ernst Mayr’s efforts
to include systematics and the work of “museum men” into the evolutionary
synthesis. He mentioned the short-lived Society for the Study of Speciation (1939–
1941) and Mayr’s attempts at improving its effectiveness (Cain 2000a). He also
acknowledged Mayr’s leadership role in the “Committee of Common Problems
of Genetics, Paleontology, and Systematics,” 1942–1949 (Cain 2002b) and finally
discussed his 3-year term as founding editor of the new society’s journal Evolution,
1947–1949 (Cain 2000b). The following account is based on these detailed reports
(see also Cain 2004 and Smocovitis 1994a,b).