In Pursuit of the Gene

THE FLY ROOM © 189
there, how organs and organisms became gradually changed though
the interaction of accidental variation and natural selection (those which
happened to have stronger middle toes, better adapted to escaping
from the carnivores, tending to survive and so to leave more offspring,
through numberless generations). 10
On the night of August 29, 1900, Hermann Sr., who was then only 47
years, died of a stroke, leaving his wife with two young children and little
money. For the 9½-year-old Hermann the loss of his father meant the premature
loss of his childhood. Already a serious boy, Hermann exacted an
even higher standard from himself after his father’s death, excelling at all
things academic and collecting prizes and notice from the many adults who
found in him a diligence and intelligence that was truly remarkable.
In his senior year at Morris High School in the Bronx, Hermann began
a lifelong friendship with Edgar Altenburg, who would remain his best
friend, defender, collaborator, and scientific critic for the next half century.
As Muller would later recall, it had not taken them long to establish the
pattern that would characterize the next fifty years of their relationship,
immediately entering into intense dialogue, “argu[ing] out vehemently and
to the bitter end all questions of principle” until they’d resolved all differences.
11 But in many ways, Muller and Altenburg were a study in contrasts.
While Muller had fine strong features, he was extremely short, just over
five feet tall, prematurely balding, and lacking in social confidence. Edgar,
on the other hand, was tall and confident with movie-star good looks, which
many women seemed to find irresistible. If Hermann may have felt physically
intimidated by Edgar with his good looks, height, and ease with women,
he also basked in Altenburg’s admiration. Edgar believed that Hermann
possessed a rare genius, and never ceased to be amazed by his friend’s quickness
of mind. 12 In the late 1930s and early 1940s, when Hermann’s reputation
was at a low ebb, Edgar was Hermann’s relentless advocate and defender.
After scoring second on a citywide college entrance exam, Muller was
awarded a fellowship to attend Columbia College in 1907, and he was joined
there by Altenburg, who transferred from the City University of New York
in the spring of his freshman year. 13 At the end of the summer of 1908, in
preparation for E. B. Wilson’s undergraduate course, Muller read Recent Prog-