Ernst Mayr (1904-2004) was a Harvard University evolutionary biologist considered one of the 100 greatest scientists of all time.
His nearly 80-year career spanned ornithology, taxonomy, zoogeography, evolution, systematics, and the history and philosophy of biology.
Key Contributions:
He made the origin of species diversity a central question in evolutionary biology.
He pioneered the currently accepted definition of a biological species.
Awards: Mayr was awarded the “triple crown of biology”: the Balzan Prize (1983), the International Prize for Biology (1994), and the Crafoord Prize (1999).