3 The New York Years (1931–1953)

A Modern Unified Theory of Evolution 191
Dear Professor Dunn, March 20, 1940
Your suggestion that I should co-operate with a botanist in the preparation
of a series of lectures on modern taxonomy appeals to me very much. I have
given the matter a good deal of thought and believe that a good job can be
done on this subject, although I feel that somehow or other the subject should
be tied up with the question of speciation. One might, for example, choose
atitlelike“taxonomyandtheoriginofspecies”tomakeitacompanionof
Dobzhansky’s work. There is no need for a purely technical treatise of the
methods of taxonomy because there are several books of that sort available.
What is needed is something that would stimulate the taxonomist to try to go
beyond the merely technical treatment of his material and, on the other hand,
something that would give the general biologist an idea what really can be
gotten out of a good modern taxonomic work.
I realize that it is still too early to go into details, but I have drawn up a plan
of some of the possible chapters of such a book. There is no question that some
of this arrangement will be found impractical when it comes to the actual
working out of the material, but it will help to crystallize our ideas if I put
down this preliminary plan.
Sincerely yours, E. Mayr
Dear Dr. Mayr, April, 3, 1940
Ireturnyouroutlinewithafewcomments.Ithinkitshouldserveasthebasis
for a good book, which the Press ought to be glad to get. (We must still keep
book and lectures separate since the latter are very uncertain.) The books for
our Biological series ought to be read by all kinds of biologists, therefore ought
to avoid the technicalities of special fields as much as possible. This should not
be difficult with taxonomy which speaks a lingua franca (often of yesterday)
of biology. This would only be a problem in parts like your section 2. Since
addressed to so varied an audience the treatment ought to be elementary but
not popular; and provocative rather than conclusive. For myself I should like
to see discussed somewhere the question whether principles of taxonomy exist;
if so whether they are of really general application, or how they are limited.
Itseemstomethatthecommongroundsonwhichbiologistsoftenmeetare1)
historical, 2) philosophical, including the sharing of systems of reasoning and
of words, so these are not to be avoided in a discussion for a general biological
audience. But Edgar Anderson or Dobzhansky or others would be much better
critics of your plan than I.
ItseemstomethenextstepmightbetosoundoutAndersontoseewhether
he’s interested.
Yours ever, L. C. Dunn.