Ernst Mayr
Commentary - Humor - Nonsense - Sarcasm - Satire - Whimsy
On the Road with DR. EVIL
Ernst Mayr
Vol. VII, No. 2, February 20, 2005
A Missive of Irregular Frequency and Questionable Worth
THE
DEMISE OF ANOTHER OF MY HEROES
In 2002 I was saddened by the death of Stephen Jay Gould, erstwhile editor of Natural History, prolific writer, staunch defender and promoter of evolution by natural selection. One of his more famous quotes is, "Humans are not the end result of predictable evolutionary progress, but rather a fortuitous cosmic afterthought, a tiny little twig on the enormously arborescent bush of life, which if replanted from seed, would almost surely not grow this twig again."
This last week another of my heroes, Ernst Mayr, a biologist and naturalist at the American Museum of Natural History and Alexander Agassiz chair of zoology at Harvard, died at the age of 100. He was born in Bavaria where he studied medicine, but preferred bird watching. He identified more new species of bird than anyone else now alive, and even more species of orchid. In a very real way, Mayr fulfilled the intent of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859). While Darwin never did explain in any detail the origin of species, as the title implies, Mayr certainly did. Not only that, but he was the first to define what a species actually is - a group of beings that can breed among themselves, but not with others. He explained how reproductive isolation can come about and how natural selection, then, can lead to the development of new species. The "species problem" of Darwin's day was finally solved - after more than 80 years. He, G.G. Simpson and Theo Dobzhansky were Darwin's rescuers.
His obit appears in the February 12-18 edition of The Economist. It concludes with the following disturbing comment. "It is an irony, though, that his adopted country is the one place in the developed world where the neoDarwinian explanations that he and his colleagues created are not the commonplace of the schoolbooks, and where many people prefer to cling to the campfire tales of Genesis, rather than face the awesome theses that Mr. Mayr helped to elucidate."
THE AMERICAN CLOD
The occasion? World leaders gathered in Poland at the commemoration of the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945. Our Vice President, in all his glory, recognized the solemn occasion, not by wearing appropriate garb, but by wearing an olive colored parka embroidered with his name, brown lace-up boots and a knit ski cap with the words "STAFF 2001" across its front. He was more sensitive to solemnity at his swearing-in January 20th when he wore a "perfectly handsome" black overcoat. I guess some occasions are more important than others. Is this how we win friends and influence people? Mrs. Cheney, to his left, knows better. That guy over his right shoulder would appear to have him sized-up correctly.
OH MY GAWD, ANOTHER
FRENCH REVOLUTION
France's parliament recently passed a new work-time law that 300,000 to 500,000 demonstrators hit the streets to protest "in an effort to protect their 35-hour work week." "It's the end of the 35-hour week." So said an official of France's largest trade union. Le Monde lamented that "this will be the death of the 35-hour law."
Not really. It turns out that most of the protestors were using the occasion to aggravate for pay raises and shouting their opposition to the European Union constitution.
Chirac, a staunch supporter of the 35-hour work week, says "the legal working time is, and will remain, 35 hours." (In French, of course.)
The new law apparently explicitly states that there will be no change in the work week. Workers can "cash in" days-off and work instead. Or they can work longer hours if they and their boss can agree on the terms. Those who want to earn more by working more can do so. It's all voluntary - no forced labor - and overtimers will be paid at 125% per hour as apposed to the recent 110%.
Does the French parliament really have to produce a law that permits this?
The original law put through by the Socialists a few years ago reduced the work week by four hours with no loss in pay. (They, therefore, must have originally been working 39 hours. Hmmmmmm!) But apparently most had to undergo a pay freeze. However, as one might expect, middle management office workers gained as many as 10 to 20 "extra" paid days off. How many did they have before all this brouhaha.
Wow, another French revolution.
See you at the next rest stop.
Dr.
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