modern synthesis
English
Etymology
Coined by Julian Huxley in 1942, in his book Evolution: The Modern Synthesis.
Noun
modern synthesis (uncountable)
- (biology, sometimes capitalized) The mathematical framework unifying Darwinian evolution and Mendelian heredity into a coherent theory.
- 2018, Julia D. Sigwart, What Species Mean: A User's Guide to the Units of Biodiversity, CRC Press, →ISBN:
- The core of the Modern Synthesis was to suggest that these observable processes, controlled by genes, explain the principles of variation and selection as laid out by Darwin: genetics underpin the mutability of species, and it is the nuts and bolts of descent with modification.
- 2020, Martin Hähnel, editor, Aristotelian Naturalism: A Research Companion, Springer Nature, →ISBN, page 336:
- In other words, the Modern Synthesis simply abstracts away from the role of phenotypic variation. It explains evolutionary change solely in terms of genetic variation.
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