#429 Andrew Berry: The History of Evolutionary Biology (Pt. 1)
RECORDED ON DECEMBER 1st 2020.
Dr. Andrew Berry is a lecturer in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. He is an evolutionary biologist with a particular interest in Alfred Russel Wallace. His research combined field and laboratory methods to detect positive Darwinian selection (i.e. adaptive evolution) at the molecular level in natural populations. He has published two books: Infinite tropics: an Alfred Russel Wallace Anthology, with a foreword written by Stephen Jay Gould, and DNA: The Secret of Life with James Watson.
In this episode, we talk about the history of evolutionary biology. We start with the early developments by Darwin and Wallace, and we also mention some precursors to evolutionary biology and even some early evolutionary biologists before Darwin and Wallace. We then get into Mendelian genetics, and the development of population genetics. Finally, we talk about the path that let to the development of the modern evolutionary synthesis in evolutionary biology.
Time Links:
Darwin, Wallace, and the early days of the theory of evolution by natural selection
Could someone else have developed the theory?
The early days of evolutionary biology
Mendelian genetics
Levels of selection
Population genetics
The modern evolutionary synthesis
Follow Dr. Berry’s work!
Follow Dr. Berry’s work:
University page: https://bit.ly/3msGlYE
Harvard website: https://bit.ly/37vdbC2
Works on ResearchGate: https://bit.ly/37rBNez
Infinite tropics: an Alfred Russel Wallace Anthology: https://amzn.to/2KY5f4v
DNA: The Secret of Life: https://amzn.to/3ogg9ke