Professor Mayr has written a monumental history of biological ideas...[It is] a marvelous course in evolution, taught historically. For a reader who is willing to make the effort, this book provides one of the best and most nearly complete discussions of these ideas to be found anywhere. It is an example of those rare books in popular science which can teach scientists as well as laymen...[This book] is full of insights and historical revelations. Nothing quite like The Growth of Biological Thought has been attempted before. It is a book that could have been written only by a scientist in complete command of his subject.
   --Jeremy Bernstein, New Yorker

This is an extraordinary, epic work in which Mayr once again shows himself a master of detail, interpretation, and synthesis.
   --Douglas J. Futuyma, Science

The Growth of Biological Thought will be a richly rewarding experience...Mayr's vivid manner, his clear analytical distinctions, his candor in meeting controversial issues head on, make his discussions as stimulating as they are valuable.
   --Frederic L. Holmes, Washington Post Book World

Mayr concentrates on scientific problems and concepts, placing them in the intellectual milieu of each historical period...Tightly drawn, highly opinionated presentations are invaluable in science, and Mr. Mayr's [book] is certainly provocative.
   --James L. Gould, New York Times Book Review

This solid book...is essential reading for everyone at all interested in evolution, in biology or its history, or in science in general.
   --A. J. Cain, Nature

Mayr's book is a book of great erudition and insight. No other single volume offers such an extensive account of the history of the subjects in question while providing as penetrating a view of the nature of these subjects.
   --Richard W. Burkhardt, Times Higher Education Supplement

Ernst Mayr is Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, Emeritus, at Harvard University. He is also the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and awards, including the Crafoord Prize for Biology, the National Medal of Science, the Balzan Prize, and the Japan Prize.

Read More by Ernst Mayr:

• Evolution and the Diversity of Life: Selected Essays
• This Is Biology: The Science of the Living World
• One Long Argument: Charles Darwin and the Genesis of Modern Evolutionary Thought
• Populations, Species, and Evolution, An Abridgment of <i>Animal Species and Evolution</i>
• Toward a New Philosophy of Biology: Observations of an Evolutionist
• The Evolutionary Synthesis: Perspectives on the Unification of Biology, With a New Preface
• Systematics and the Origin of Species from the Viewpoint of a Zoologist
• Animal Species and Evolution