Yes Indeed, Evolutionary Biologists Should Pay More Attention to History : A Commentary on Smocovitis

Vassiliki “Betty” Smocovitis has done a thorough and admirable job in highlighting the complex history the Modern Synthesis (MS) or the Evolutionary Synthesis (ES) as she prefers to call it. Her interesting contribution should hopefully increase awareness that the history of evolutionary biology is important even for researchers today who are mainly interested in solving practical questions of more immediate importance. Indeed, evolutionary biology has a rich history, and that in itself should motivate more dialogues and communication between biologists and historians to avoid perpetuating strongly biased views in ongoing conceptual debates about the future of our field