Synthesis Period

Professor Joe Cain has specialist research interests in the synthesis period of evolutionary studies, 1930s-1940s. Often called the “evolutionary synthesis,” this period witnessed major changes in theory, practice, and community for evolutionary studies. It also witnessed the growth of organisational infrastructure associated with the subject, such as the journal Evolution and the Society fo the the Study of Evolution.

Proceedings of the Seventh International Genetical Congress held in 1939 and published in 1941.
Blog

Using LLMs to query 1939 International Genetical Congress

What work can large-language models (LLMs) do for historical researching? They offer tools for voluminous compilation of data ready for complex human analysis. They can organise and reorganise data. They can extract data from source material. They can be set to search for trends. We’re coming to grips with LLM tools for historical researching, and we’re quickly moving well beyond the LLM-as-author model so distrusted in our community. Historians must push ourselves to be as creative and demanding of LLM resources as those in our sister disciplines.

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George Gaylord Simpson in Paris 1947. APS Library. Colourised.
New Posts

George Gaylord Simpson (1902-1984) bibliography

The American vertebrate paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson (1902–1984) published more than 700 original items. A general sense of Simpson’s career is provided by his autobiography (Simpson, 1978). Authoritative secondary sources are Laporte (2000) and Whittington […]
Biodynamica - Basile J. Luyet from volume 1, 1934-1938
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Biodynamica, published by Basile J. Luyet

Historians of the synthesis period in evolutionary studies, aka evolutionary synthesis, are deeply familiar with the Columbia Biological Series. This monograph series included key texts for the American evolutionist community, including Theodosius Dobzhansky’s (1937) Genetics […]
Columbia Biological Series logo. One of five different logos used for the series.
Highlights

New Evidence on Dobzhansky 1936 “Jesup” lectures

Who says nothing exciting ever happens in historical research? This letter reports on a recent important find regarding the population geneticist, Theodosius Dobzhansky, and his famous 1937 book, Genetics and the Origin of Species. Most historians […]