R.I.P. Lynn Margulis, Biological Rebel

Lynn Margulis was among the most creative challengers of mainstream Darwinian thinking of the late 20^th century. She challenged what she called “ultra-Darwinian orthodoxy” with several ideas. The first, and most successful, is the concept of symbiosis. Darwin and his heirs had always emphasized the role that competition between individuals and species played in evolution. In the 1960′s, however, Margulis began arguing that symbiosis had been an equally important factor–and perhaps more important–in the evolution of life.

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