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Sewall Wright and Gustave Malécot on Isolation by Distance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Yoichi Ishida
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Abstract

Sewall Wright and Gustave Malécot developed important theories of isolation by distance. Wright's theory was statistical and Malécot's probabilistic. Because of this mathematical difference, they were not clear about the relationship between their theories. In this paper, I make two points to clarify this relationship. First, I argue that Wright's theory concerns what I call ecological isolation by distance, whereas Malécot's concerns what I call genetic isolation by distance. Second, I suggest that if Wright's theory is interpreted appropriately, a previously unnoticed connection between the two theories emerges.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 76 , Issue 5 , December 2009 , pp. 784 - 796
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

‡

I wish to thank Thomas Cunningham, Thomas Nickles, and Peter Guildenhuys for comments on earlier versions of this paper and the audience at PSA 2008 for discussions.

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