The modern synthesis and "Progress" in evolution: a view from the journal literature

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary Biology
• History of Science

Background:

• The concept of
• progress
• in evolutionary theory has been debated since Darwin.
• Historians suggest the Modern Synthesis aimed to remove
• progress
• from scientific discourse.

Observation:

• A textual analysis of 27,762 documents from Evolution and Proceedings of the Royal Society B was conducted.
• Dynamic topic modeling was used to track the term
• progress
• during the Modern Synthesis era.

Findings:

• The study supports the claim that
• progress
• declined in importance in evolutionary biology during the Modern Synthesis.
• Evidence suggests British scientific literature discussed
• progress
• less, highlighting American paleontology's role.

Implications:

• This research clarifies the historical trajectory of
• progress
• as a concept in evolutionary biology.
• It underscores the influence of specific scientific communities, like American paleontology, on shaping evolutionary theory.