3 The New York Years (1931–1953)

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The Family 13 where they learned Latin and classical Greek followed by a modern language. This reflected a commitment to intellectual synthesis rather than an early specialization (Harwood 1994: 17). The gymnasiums to which the Mayrs sent their sons in Würzburg, Munich, and Dresden were elite schools, the best available in these cities. This education prepared Ernst to deal with complex issues of evolutionary theory and philosophy in later years. The family was quite well-to-do before the early death of Ernst’s father in 1917 and the German hyperinflation during the 1920s. They used to have a servant and at times even a second one. However, they always lived fairly modestly in a large apartment in the city, not in their own house. Like most other people in the country, they had no telephone or gaslight, no running hot water or refrigerator. Food was kept from spoiling during the summer in a big ice box cooled by thick slabs of ice; and, of course, they had no car. For any long distances in the city one used the electric tram. Ernst was not interested in technical things, as many other boys were, and in school his worst subjects were drawing and singing. Otherwise, however, he was a first-class student with top grades. He did not collect stamps, rocks, or insects but he was an early observer. At the age of about two or three, he knew, like most children, to discriminate all the colors. “One day my mother gave a tea to her sisters and girlfriends and wanted to brag about my achievement. It was spring and one of the aunts asked, What color are trees? To my mother’s horror I answered, Pink. When pressed, What trees are pink? I immediately answered, Almond trees. They were pink flowering just at that time in several neighboring gardens, and mine and my mother’s prestige was rescued. I think my enthusiasm for birdwatching was in part due to my capacity for making observations.” One day grandmother Minna remarked to Otto, Ernst’s elder brother: “Watch out well, little Ernsty will eventually pass you.” In an early notebook, Ernst recorded that the family went to the Munich Hoftheater to see Friedrich Schiller’s “Wilhelm Tell” in 1914. During 1916–1917, Ernst took piano lessons and played several pieces for the family on Christmas Eve as he reported to Aunt Marguerite (one of his mother’s sisters in Dresden) on 21 January 1917. He had recently attended a church concert and was reading G. Freytag’s Soll und Haben. However, since he never practiced in spite of his mother’s urging, the piano lessons were dropped. On 25 March 1917, the family attended Mozart’s Magic Flute. Ernst noted the cast of this his first opera in detail and how the soprano voice ofMariaIvogünastheQueenoftheNighthadenchantedhim. After her husband’s death from cancer in Munich on 1 July 1917, when Ernst wasnotyet13yearsold,Mrs.MayrtookherthreesonstoliveinDresden(Saxony), where she still had two brothers and four sisters. The Mayr boys finished the Staatsgymnasium (“Royal Gymnasium” until 1918) in Dresden-Neustadt and went to college on scholarships, some contributions from Aunt Gunny, and what little their mother could spare from her rather meager pension. Ernst always felt a tremendous admiration for his mother. “She was an exemplary representative of the best Protestant ethics: generous, frugal, hardworking, full of ideals, and with a wonderful sense of humor. I think
14 1 Childhood and Youth Fig.1.4. Ernst Mayr, 12 years old (left), and his brother Hans in Munich on 24 July 1916. (Photograph courtesy of O. Mayr.) she always thought that it was important that one ‘did one’s job.’ If science was one’s job, one had to devote oneself to science. If the cataloguing and classifying of the Rothschild Collection was one’s job, this is what one did without complaining.” The three brothers represented rather different personalities. Otto (OM 3, 1901– 1985), 3 years older than Ernst, felt since the death of their father he had to give advice to his younger brothers, which was not received with gratitude. Ernst always wanted to excel over his older brother and worked very hard as a student,
Page 2 and 3: Jürgen Haffer Ornithology, Evoluti
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Page 6 and 7: Preface Ernst Mayr (1904-2005), emi
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Expeditions to New Guinea and the S
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Part II Ornithologist and Evolution
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4 Ornithologist and Zoogeographer B
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184 5 Biological Species and Specia
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6 Life in North America during Worl
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Part III Professor of Zoology at Ha
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8 Evolutionary Biology— Mayr’s
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10 Systematics and Classification T
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11 History and Philosophy of Biolog
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376 12 Summary: Appreciation of Ern
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Acknowledgments Iamdeeplygratefulto
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List of Abbreviations AAAS American
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386 References Beehler BM, Pratt TK
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388 References Cracraft J (2002) Go
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390 References Haffer J (1997a) Ess
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392 References Keast JA (1996) Avia
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394 References Olson SL (1975) The
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396 References Smith JJ (1936) Eric
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398 References Wiglesworth LW (1898
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Appendix 1 Curriculum Vitae (includ
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Appendix 1 403 1978 Prêmio Jabuti,
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Appendix 1 405 Society Offices Linn
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Appendix 2 407 1926c Das Freibrüte
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Appendix 2 409 1932 1932a Birds col
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Appendix 2 411 1936g Melidectes bel
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Appendix 2 413 1941e Birds collecte
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Appendix 2 415 1944f Chromosomes an
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Appendix 2 417 1947g On the correct
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Appendix 2 419 1952e Six new subspe
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Appendix 2 421 1954g The tail molt
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Appendix 2 423 1958c Concluding rem
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Appendix 2 425 in E. Mayr, Evolutio
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Appendix 2 427 1964l Introduction [
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Appendix 2 429 1967d Subfamily Pach
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Appendix 2 431 in Acta Soc. Zool. B
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Appendix 2 433 1974b The diversity
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Appendix 2 435 1976m Evolution and
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Appendix 2 437 Mankind 13:430; P.W.
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Appendix 2 439 (1984) in Queen’s
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Appendix 2 441 1984c Evolution and
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Appendix 2 443 1987b The status of
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Appendix 2 445 1990 1990a The Myth
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Appendix 2 447 1992f Haldane’s Ca
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Appendix 2 449 1995g The search for
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Appendix 2 451 1999 1999a Thoughts
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List of Books by Ernst Mayr 453 200
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Coauthorship 455 Coauthorship In th
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Appendix 3 457 (4) Systematics 1942
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Index Achievements 379 Adaptation 2
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Index 461 Faunas 164-165 Family 8-1
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Index 463 Realism and education 372
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