Anecdotal , Historical and Critical Commentaries on Genetics Edited by James F . Crow and William F . Dove H . J . Muller and the ‘ ‘ Competition Hoax ’ ’

HERMAN Joseph Muller—Joe, as he preferred to be called in his later life—is best known for his discovery of X-ray mutagenesis (Figure 1). Important as this is, it is but a tiny fraction of his work. In his introduction to Muller’s collected papers (Muller 1962, p. v), Joshua Lederberg wrote: ‘‘It is not easy to find an original thought in biological theory that has not, in some way, been anticipated here—whether the topic be the ultramicroscropic gene, the fate of mankind on earth, or the cosmic origins of life. . . . Thoughtful reader—you will find a world of rediscovery here.’’ Muller’s breadth of interest was exemplified in his evolution course, which dealt with the origin of the universe and the earth, the beginnings of life, biological evolution (of course), and, finally, social evolution. His student Elof Carlson has written extensively about Muller’s life, both scientific and personal (Carlson 1981, 2004). Evelyn Witkin (2000, p. 461) has discussed Muller’s pioneering work: ‘‘. . . throughout the ’20s and ’30s one geneticist, Hermann J. Muller, thought more deeply, wrote more extensively, and spoke more passionately about the nature of the gene than anyone else. Indeed, Muller laid the conceptual foundation of molecular biology to an extent that is not generally recognized.’’ His ideas on evolution are less well known, but in my view he belongs with the other great theorists (Crow 2005). Muller has been well represented in the pages of Genetics. Since 1950 his name has appeared in the title or abstract of 46 articles. Here is a sample of articles that deal directly with his life and work: Paul (1988), Lederberg (1991), Crow (1995), Zeng (1996), Crow and Abrahamson (1997), Turelli and Orr (2000), Wagner and Crow (2001), and Johnson (2002). Muller was one of the first to offer an explanation of why sexual reproduction is so ubiquitous. Along with R. A. Fisher (1930), Muller (1932) argued that a major advantage of sexual reproduction is that, by recombination, favorable mutations that occur in different individuals can be combined into the same lineage. Otherwise they can only compete with each other until one wins out. In two subsequent articles, Muller (1958a, 1964) developed the theory quantitatively.