Soren Løvtrup (1922–2002) was a Danish

embryologist Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, '' -logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos and ...

and historian of science in the Department of Animal Physiology at the Umeå University,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Løvtrup was known for his macromutation theory of evolution, which was in opposition to traditional neo-Darwinism. In 1987, Løvtrup published his controversial book ''Darwinism: The Refutation of a Myth'' which challenged Charles Darwin's role as the intellectual founder of evolutionary theory and accused

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

Career

Løvtrup was born in Copenhagen. In 1945, he enrolled at University of Copenhagen, where he obtained a master's degree in biochemistry. He worked at Carlsberg Laboratory, until 1953 when he received a PhD in embryology. He also worked at University of Gothenburg. From 1965, he worked at Umeå University in Sweden as professor of animal physiology.

Research

''Darwinism: The Refutation of a Myth''

Løvtrup is best known for his book ''Darwinism: The Refutation of a Myth'' (1987). In this controversial work, he claimed that Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was the real founder of evolution and that natural selection was discovered by

Erasmus Darwin Erasmus Robert Darwin (12 December 173118 April 1802) was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave-trade abolitionist, inventor, and poet. His poems ...

, Patrick Matthew and other naturalists before Charles Darwin. The book supports the ideas of early evolutionary thinkers such as Karl Ernst von Baer, Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and

St. George Jackson Mivart St. George Jackson Mivart (30 November 1827 – 1 April 1900) was an English biologist. He is famous for starting as an ardent believer in natural selection who later became one of its fiercest critics. Mivart attempted to reconcile D ...

.Thomson, Keith Stewart. (1988). ''Darwinism: Refutation of a Myth by Søren Løvtrup''. ''

American Scientist __NOTOC__ ''American Scientist'' (informally abbreviated ''AmSci'') is an American bimonthly science and technology magazine published since 1913 by Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. In the beginning of 2000s the headquarters was in New ...

''. Vol. 76, No. 4. pp. 394-395.Smith, Hobart M. (1989). ''The Myth is Not Evolution. Darwinism: The Refutation of a Myth by Soren Lovtrup''. '' Evolution''. Vol. 43, No. 3. pp. 699-700. He was a critic of

gradualism Gradualism, from the Latin ''gradus'' ("step"), is a hypothesis, a theory or a tenet assuming that change comes about gradually or that variation is gradual in nature and happens over time as opposed to in large steps. Uniformitarianism, incrementa ...

and the punctuated equilibrium theory of evolution. Løvtrup argued against the micromutation theory of the

modern evolutionary synthesis Modern synthesis or modern evolutionary synthesis refers to several perspectives on evolutionary biology, namely: * Modern synthesis (20th century), the term coined by Julian Huxley in 1942 to denote the synthesis between Mendelian genetics and s ...

and promoted his own theory of macromutation (

saltational evolution Mutationism is one of several alternatives to evolution by natural selection that have existed both before and after the publication of Charles Darwin's 1859 book ''On the Origin of Species''. In the theory, mutation was the source of novelty, c ...

). Biologist Bruce Wallace gave the book a mixed review, stating that Løvtrup was advocating a minority position in evolutionary biology and he "underestimates existing genetic variation, consequently, he favors evolutionary events that occur rarely even on a geologic time scale." Herpetologist

Hobart Muir Smith Hobart Muir Smith, born Frederick William Stouffer (September 26, 1912 – March 4, 2013), was an American herpetologist. He is credited with describing more than 100 new species of American reptiles and amphibians. In addition, he has been ...

wrote that the book with its sensationalist title would be highjacked by creationists but it is not against the fact of evolution, only against the Darwinian interpretation. Smith concluded "Certainly the book will strike many as controversial, but Løvtrup has given the world a truly epochal, introspective analysis of inestimable potential value." Science historian Keith Stewart Thomson gave the book a negative review commenting "Many of the sacred cows that Løvtrup wants to slaughter are either long since dead or merely made of straw. It is tedious to constantly to see Darwin and his followers taken to task for failing to be as smart as we are now." The book was criticized for providing no solid evidence for macromutations, Løvtrup only cited two alleged cases in his book.

Other works

Løvtrup's book ''Epigenetics'' (1974) was a work on theoretical biology which attempted to present a unifying theory of epigenesis. Biologist Clifford Grobstein wrote that the book was a mixture of ideas, "sometimes illuminating, sometimes naïve, sometimes superficial, sometimes sophisticated, sometimes enormously detailed." He contributed a paper on his alternative evolutionary views to the book ''Alternative Life-History Styles of Animals'' (1990).Kaplan, Robert H. (1990). ''Alternative Life-History Styles of Animals by Michael N. Bruton''. '' Copeia''. Vol. 1990, No. 1, pp. 248-250.

Publications

*''Studies on Amphibian Embryogenesis'' (1953) *''Epigenetics: A Treatise on Theoretical Biology'' (1974) *''The Phylogeny of Vertebrates'' (1977) *''Darwinism: The Refutation of a Myth'' (1987)

Personal life

He married Ebba Lund, (a Danish Resistance fighter and later a microbiologist and chemicale engineer) in 1944 and they had three children Vita (1945), Susanne (1948) and Anders (1951) before divorcing in 1959.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovtrup, Soren 1922 births 2002 deaths Carlsberg Laboratory staff Embryologists Mutationism Umeå University alumni University of Copenhagen alumni