“Faced with a new mutation in an organism, or a fundamental change in its living conditions, the biologist is frequently in no position whatever to predict its future prospects. He has to wait and see. For instance, the hairy mammoth seems to have been an admirable animal, intelligent and well-accoutered. Now that it is extinct, we try to understand why it failed. I doubt that any biologist thinks he could have predicted that failure. Fitness and survival are by nature estimates of past performance.”
Quote by George Wald
Author
George Wald
George Wald was an American biologist renowned for his research in the field of visual physiology. In the mid-20th century, his studies on retinal pigment vision significantly contributed to the understanding of human visual mechanisms. Wald was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1967 for his outstanding contributions to the field of visual physiology. more
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