---
title: "2 18th century Quotes By Ernst Mayr"
description: "2 18th century quotes by Ernst Mayr. Plus more from Ernst Mayr and more 18th century sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a5/ernst-mayr-13171_18th-century_the-most-consequential-change-in-man-s-v_2243446.jpg"
---

> [The most consequential change in man's view of the world, of living nature and of himself came with the introduction, over a period of some 100 years beginning only in the 18th century, of the idea of change itself, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/the-most-consequential-change-in-man-s-view-of-the-world-of-living/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a5/ernst-mayr-13171_18th-century_the-most-consequential-change-in-man-s-v_2243446.jpg)

> [“Truly, Buffon was the father of all thought in natural history in the second half of the 18th century.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/truly-buffon-was-the-father-of-all-thought-in-natural-history-in-the/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd0/ernst-mayr-13171_18th-century_truly-buffon-was-the-father-of-all-thoug_2419928.png)

## Other authors on 18th century

## More by Ernst Mayr

> [There is more to biology than rats, Drosophila, Caenorhabditis, and E. coli.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/there-is-more-to-biology-than-rats-drosophila-caenorhabditis-and-e/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

> [“The funny thing is if in England, you ask a man in the street who the greatest living Darwinian is, he will say Richard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/the-funny-thing-is-if-in-england-you-ask-a-man-in-the-street-who-the/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

> [The history of science knows scores of instances where an investigator was in the possession of all the important facts for a new theory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/the-history-of-science-knows-scores-of-instances-where-an/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

> [most scientific problems are far better understood by studying their history than their logic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/most-scientific-problems-are-far-better-understood-by-studying-their/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

> [I did not claim that speciation occurs only in founder populations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/i-did-not-claim-that-speciation-occurs-only-in-founder-populations/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

> [Evolution, thus, is merely contingent on certain processes articulated by Darwin: variation and selection. No longer is a fixed object transformed, as in transformational…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/evolution-thus-is-merely-contingent-on-certain-processes-articulated/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

> [In Earth, among millions of lineages or organisms and perhaps 50 billion speciation events, only one led to high intelligence ; this makes me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/in-earth-among-millions-of-lineages-or-organisms-and-perhaps-50/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

> [I have the honesty to say I'm an Atheist. There is nothing that supports the idea of a personal God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/i-have-the-honesty-to-say-i-m-an-atheist-there-is-nothing-that/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

> [All I claimed was that when a drastic change occurs, it occurs in a relatively small and isolated population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/all-i-claimed-was-that-when-a-drastic-change-occurs-it-occurs-in-a/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

> [A new species develops if a population which has become geographically isolated from its parental species acquires during this period of isolation characters which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/a-new-species-develops-if-a-population-which-has-become/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

> [According to the concept of transformational evolution, first clearly articulated by Lamarck, evolution consists of the gradual transformation of organisms from one condition of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/according-to-the-concept-of-transformational-evolution-first-clearly/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

> [Our understanding of the world is achieved more effectively by conceptual improvements than by discovery of new facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/our-understanding-of-the-world-is-achieved-more-effectively-by/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

> [Wherever we look at the living biota … discontinuities are overwhelmingly frequent…The discontinuities are even more striking in the fossil record. New species usually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/wherever-we-look-at-the-living-biota-discontinuities-are/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

> [There are a number of attributes of species and populations that are not of any particular selective advantage to any single individual in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/there-are-a-number-of-attributes-of-species-and-populations-that-are/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

> [The reduced variability of small populations is not always due to accidental gene loss, but sometimes to the fact that the entire population was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mayr/the-reduced-variability-of-small-populations-is-not-always-due-to/)

[Ernst Mayr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mayr/)

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