3 The New York Years (1931–1953)

340 11 History and Philosophy of Biology—Mayr’s Third Synthesis
Hull (1994) wrote that Mayr’s historical publications are not “wiggish” in several
basic meanings. However, “whiggism” is also taken to denote writing history of
science as if it homed in on our present day beliefs. These histories make greater
concessions to the present-day reader (Hull, l.c.). Major faults of historiography
which have been known for a long time and which Mayr tried to avoid include
(1) bias against some theory or author, (2) chauvinism by nationality or field,
(3) priorities that are neglected or falsified, and (4) finalistic interpretations. It
should be noted that Mayr started publishing more actively in the fields of history
and philosophy of biology during the Darwin centennial of 1959, that is relatively
late in his career and, at the same time, continued as an active worker in the fields
of systematics, species, and evolution (Fig. 4.2).
Mayr’s friends and students in history of science presented him with a festschrift
on the occasion of his 75th birthday which was published in the series “Studies
in History of Biology” in 1979. When his major work on The Growth of Biological
Thought (1982d) had appeared, the Society of the History of Science awarded him
their highest award, the Sarton Medal, in 1986. Three universities bestowed upon
him honorary degrees in philosophy of biology, vice Guelph University (Canada)
in 1982, University of Konstanz (Germany) in 1994, and Rollins College, Florida
(USA) in 1996. Two festschriften with contributions by historians and philosophers
of science appeared when Ernst Mayr turned 90 and 100 years old in 1994 and 2004,
respectively (Greene and Ruse 1994; Ayala 2004).
History of Biology
Mayr’s earliest historical work was conducted not for the sake of history but to
analyze certain ornithological problems. In his doctoral dissertation (1926e) on
the range expansion of the Serin finch (Serinus serinus), he included a chapter
discussing historical records on the early occurrence and colonization of particular
regions by this species. An entry in his notebook of 1926/1927 indicates
that among other topics, he planned to write “a historical paper on color change
of feathers without molt”. This problem had intrigued ornithologists during the
mid-19th century, until proven wrong several decades later. Another entry of 1927
was “a historical survey of the ornithological exploration of the world. […] Note
Buffon’s ideas on the polar origin of life, wavelike dispersion, etc. […] Refer to
the writings of Alexander Humboldt […] Lyell, Schmarda, Sclater, Moritz Wagner,
Darwin.” The publications of these naturalists figure prominently in his writings
many years later. As with Mayr’s interests in the fields of systematics, genetics,
zoogeography, and evolution, the above data indicate that the roots of his interests
in history of biology also go back to the mid-1920s, when he was a student
under Erwin Stresemann whose approach to science was very broad including the
historical development of ornithology (p. 41).
Mayr’s expedition notebooks from New Guinea (1929) reveal the fact that one
of his early research plans for the years after his return to Germany had been to
test the territory theory with respect to birds in the region around Berlin. This