G. Ledyard Stebbins was an American botanist and geneticist who is
widely regarded as one of the leading evolutionary biologists and
botanists of the 20th century. His work with E. B. Babcock on the
genetic evolution of plant species, and his association with a group
of evolutionary biologists known as the Bay Area Biosystematists, led
him to develop a comprehensive synthesis of plant evolution
incorporating genetics. His most important publication was Variation
and Evolution in Plants, which combined genetics and Darwin's theory
of natural selection to describe plant speciation. It is regarded as
one of the main publications which formed the core of the modern
evolutionary synthesis and still provides the conceptual framework for
research in plant evolutionary biology; according to Ernst Mayr, "Few
later works dealing with the evolutionary systematics of plants have
not been very deeply affected by Stebbins' work." He also researched
and wrote widely on the role of hybridization and polyploidy in
speciation and plant evolution; his work in this area has had a
lasting influence on research in the field. From 1950, Stebbins was
instrumental in the establishment of the Department of Genetics at the
University of California, Davis, and was active in numerous
organizations involved in the promotion of evolution, and of science
in general.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._Ledyard_Stebbins
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1661:
Thomas Venner and the Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempted to
seize control of London from the newly restored government of Charles
II.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Monarchists)
1781:
At the Battle of Jersey, British forces stopped France's last
attempt to militarily invade Jersey, the largest of the Channel
Islands in the English Channel.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jersey)
1838:
Samuel Morse and his assistant Alfred Vail successfully tested the
electrical telegraph for the first time at Speedwell Ironworks in
Morristown, New Jersey, USA.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/electrical_telegraph)
1907:
Italian educator Maria Montessori opened her first school and day
care center for working class children in Rome.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Montessori)
1995:
A suspicious fire in a Manila flat led to the foiling of the Bojinka
Plot, a precursor to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bojinka_Plot)
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Wiktionary's Word of the day:
incunabulum: A book, single sheet, or image that was printed in Europe
before the year 1501.
(
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/incunabulum)
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Wikiquote of the day:
Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But
today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love.
-- Khalil Gibran
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Khalil_Gibran)