A Single Theory of Evolution.

A major breakthrough for biological science came in 1947, when — after two decades of noncommunication — two branches of evolutionary biology, experimental geneticists and population biologists, fused their opposing theories of evolution into a single model known as the evolutionary synthesis. This synthesis involved reconciling Charles Darwin's mid-nineteenth century idea of natural selection with the early—twentieth century genetic understanding of the transmission of inherited characteristics. This agreement was reached because new scientific discoveries had broken down the barriers that had seemed to separate the two theories.

The Princeton Conference.

The extraordinary degree of consensus reached among evolutionists was confirmed at a conference organized by the National Research Council and held in Princeton, New Jersey, on 2-4 January 1947. Conference organizers brought together representatives of the most divergent fields, including paleontologists, morphologists, ecologists, ethologists, systematists, and geneticists. Fifteen years earlier...