Editing Modern synthesis (20th century) (section)

===Ford's ecological genetics, 1940===

[[File:Callimorpha.dominula.jpg|thumb|[[E. B. Ford]] studied [[Polymorphism (biology)#Scarlet tiger moth|polymorphism]] in the [[scarlet tiger moth]] for many years.]]

{{further|Ecological genetics}}

[[E. B. Ford]] was an experimental naturalist who wanted to test natural selection in nature, virtually inventing the field of [[ecological genetics]].<ref name=Ford1964>{{harvnb|Ford|1964}}</ref> His work on natural selection in wild populations of butterflies and moths was the first to show that predictions made by R. A. Fisher were correct. In 1940, he was the first to describe and define [[Polymorphism (biology)#Genetic polymorphism|genetic polymorphism]], and to predict that [[Human blood group systems|human blood group polymorphisms]] might be maintained in the population by providing some protection against disease.<ref name=Ford1964/><ref>{{harvnb|Ford|1975}}</ref> His 1949 book ''Mendelism and Evolution''<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ford|first1=E. B.|author-link1=E. B. Ford|title=Mendelism and Evolution |date=1949 |publisher=[[Methuen (publisher)|Methuen]]}}</ref> helped to persuade Dobzhansky to change the emphasis in the third edition of his famous textbook ''Genetics and the Origin of Species'' from drift to selection.<ref>{{harvnb|Dobzhansky|1951}}</ref>