Abstract

The history of evolutionary theory in France after 1859 and of genetics after 1900 is unique to this country, and most of it remained poorly understood until the historical studies conducted by Jean Gayon, Richard BurianBurian, Richard, Doris ZallenZallen, Doris and collaborators. Academic studies and teaching in evolutionary genetics in France developed only after geneticists Philippe L’HéritierL’Héritier, Philippe (1906–1994) and Georges TeissierTeissier, Georges (1900–1972) conducted a series of experiments as of 1932. Having a dual background in descriptive zoology and mathematical biology, TeissierTeissier, Georges and L’Héritier were pioneers in experimental population geneticsPopulation genetics and were among the first geneticists to draw attention to the maintenance of polymorphismPolymorphism in populations as a major evolutionary issue in the 1930s. L’HéritierL’Héritier, Philippeand TeissierTeissier, Georges used population cages (“démomètresDémomètres”) as the main experimental paradigmParadigm to tackle this question. This provided the basis for a scientific school that flourished in Paris after WWII. This school is characterized by its interest in a variety of selective mechanismsMechanism potentially leading to a polymorphic equilibrium, even though most of its members remained outside the debates on polymorphismPolymorphism that raged in USA and UK in 1950–1970. L’HéritierL’Héritier, Philippeand TeissierTeissier, Georges were generally at odds with neutralism, with the famous exception of the collaboration of one of its members, Maxime LamotteLamotte, Maxime (1920–2007), with French theoretician Gustave MalécotMalécot, Gustave (1911–1998). This school never abandoned its deep roots in zoology, and while its image in France rested on its interest in DarwinismDarwinism, it was established institutionally on a network of laboratories and periodicals in zoology, which can be viewed as a source of academic power. This led to some kind of isolation of this school, which eventually dissolved in the 1970s in a rising new generation of geneticists restoring international ties. The contribution of this school to French science is considerable since it introduced three fields: genetics, DarwinismDarwinism and biological statistics.