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quency of tornadoes. It is possible that 6. H. S&lichting, BoundaryLayer Theory (Mfc
parameters have values typical of, say, Graw-Hill, New York, 1955), p. 51.
any warmS moist air mass found in we could learn to predict this (parent) 7. A. A. Townsend, The Structureof Turbulertt
small-scale cyclone, and this in turn Shear Flow (Cambridge UniY. Press, New
spring and summer in the central York, 1956).
United States, with a single exceptionS could lead to better forecasting of tor- 8. H. Rouse, "Model techniques in meteoro-
logical research," in Comperidiumof Meteor-
a quantity K called circulation which nadoes. otogy (Waverly Press, Baltimore, 1951 ), p.
is a measure of the general rotation of 1249.
References 9. R. R. Long, Teltus ^?,341 ( 1955) .
the air in which the tornado is im- 10. R. R. Long, "A laboratory model of air lclow
1. H. Lamb, Hydrodynamtes (Dover, New over the Sierra Nevada Mountains," Rossby
bedded. This quantity has been esti- York, 1932). Memoriat Votume (Rockefeller Institute
mated with great accuracy for at least 2. S. Goldstein, Modern Devetopments in Press, New York, 1959 ) .
Ftuid Dynamics (Oxford Univ. Press, New 11. H. Klieforth, 4'Meteorological aspects of the
one tornado, and I think we know very York, 1938). Sierra wave," Swiss Aeronaut. Rev. 3.
closely its value in the typical case. It 3. H. R. Byers, GeneratMeteoroZogy(McGraw- 12. E. M. Brooks, '4Tornadoes and relate3d
Hill, New York, 1959), p. 201. phenomella,(' in Compendium of Meteor-
corresponds, however, to so great a ro- 4. R. S. Scorer, Naturat Aerodynam1cs(Perg- otogy, (Waverly, Baltimore, 1951) s p 673.
amon, London, 1958), chap. 7. 13. R. R. Long, "Tornadoes," OfFee Navat Re-
tation that it is obviously a very rare S. R. R. Long, Mechanics of Solids and Fluids search Tech. Rep. No. 10, contract N-onr-
occurrence. This may explain the infre- (Prentice Hall, New York, in press). 248(31) (1960).
tially adopted, if one of the competi- It takes little imagination to see that during the last century. F. A. Lange
tors were to lower the price unilaterally the exclusion principle, to date stated (27), thinking only of laboring men,
he would thereby attract the totality of explicitly only in ecological literature, spoke in most Ieervent terms of the
the business to himself...." has applications in many academic necessity of waging a "struggle against
This passage clearly antedates Grin- fields of study. I shall now point out the struggle for existence"-that is, a
nell, Lack, et al., but it comes long some of these, showing how the prin- struggle against the unimpeded working
after the Originof Species.Are there ciple has been used (mostly uncon- out of the exclusion principle. Groups
statements of the principle in the eco- sciously) in the past, and predicting with interests opposed to those of
nomic literature before Darwin? It some of its applications in the future. "labor" are equally passionate about
would be nice to know. I have run Economics. The principle unques- the same cause, though the examples
across cryptic references to the work tionably plays an indispensable role in they have in mind are diSerent.
of Simonde de Sismondi (1773-1842) almost all economic thinking, though At the present time, one of the great
which imply that he had a glimpse of it is seldom explicitly stated. Any com- fields of economics in which the ap-
the exclusion principle, but I have not petitor knows that unrestrained com- plication of the exclusion principle is
tracked them down. Perhaps some col- petition will ultimatelyCresult in but resisted is international competition
league in the history ofEeconomics will one victor. If he is confident that he is (nonbellicose). For emotional reasons,
someday do so. If it is true that Sis- that one, he may plump for "rugged most discussion of problems in this field
mondi understood the principle, this individualism.ssIf, on the other hand, is restricted by the assumption (largely
fact would add a nice touch to the he has doubts, then he will seek to re- implicit) that Cournot's solution of the
interweaving of the history of ideas, strain or restrict competition. He can intranational competition problem is
for this famous Swiss economist was restrain it by forming a cartel with his correct and applicable to the interna-
related to Emma Darwin by marriage; competitors, or by maneuvering the tional problem. On the less frequent
he plays a prominent role in the let- passage of "fair trade?' laws. (Labor- occasions when it is recognized that
ters published under her name (25). ing men achieve a similar end though Bertrand's, not Cournot's, reasoning is
the problem is somewhat different-by correct, it is assumed that the conse-
the formation of unions and the pas- quences of the exclusion principle can
UtiIity of the Exclusion rrinciple sage of minimum wage laws.) Or he be indefinitely postponed by a rapid
may restrict competition by "ecologi- and endless multiplication of '4ecologi-
"The most important lesson to be cal diSerentiation," by putting out a cal niches" (largely unprotected though
learned from evolutionary theory" slightly diSerent product (aided by re- they are by copyright and patent). If
says Michael Scriven in a brilliant es- strictive patent and copyright laws). some of these assumptions prove to be
say recently published (26), "is a nega- All this may be regarded as individual- unrealistic, the presently fashionable
tive one: the theory shows us what istic action. stance toward tariffs and other restric-
scientific explanations need not do. In Society as a whole may take action. tions of international competition will
particular it shows us that one cannot The end of unrestricted competition is have to be modified.
regard explanations as unsatisfactory a monopoly. It is well known that Genetics. The application of the ex-
when they are not such as to enable monopoly breeds power which acts to clusion principle to genetics is direct
the event in question to have been pre- insure and extend the monopoly; the and undeniable. The system of discrete
dicted." The theory of evolution is not system has "positive feedback' and alleles at the same gene locus com-
one with which we can predict exactly hence is always a threat to those as- peting for existence within a single
the future course of species formation pects of society still "outside" the mo- population of organisms is perfectly
and extinction; rather, the theory '4ex- nopoly. For this reason, men may, in the isomorphic with the system of diSerent
plains" the past. Strangely enough, we interest of "society" (rather than of species of organisms competing for ex-
take mental satisfaction in this ex post themselves as individual competitors), istence in the same habitat and eco-
facto explanation. Scriven has done band together to insure continued com- logical niche. The consequences of
well in showing why we are satisfied. petition; this they do by passing anti- this have frequently been acknowl-
Much of the theory of ecology fits monopoly laws which prevent competi- edged, usually implicitly, at least since
Scriven's description of evolutionary tion from proceeding to its ';naturally" J. B. S. Haldane's work of 1924 (28).
theory. Told that two formerly sepa- inevitable conclusion. Or "society"may But in this field, also, the consequences
rated species are to be introduced into permit monopolies but seek to remove have often been denied, explicitly or
the same environment and asked to the power element by the "socializa- otherwise, and- again for emotional
predict exactly what will happen, we tion" of the monopoly (expropriation reasons. The denial has most often been
are generally unable to do so. We can or regulation). coupled with a "denial' (in the psycho-
only make certaisl predictions of this In their actions both as individuals logical sense) of the priority of the
sort: either A will extinguish B, or and as groups, men show that they inequality axiom. As a result of recent
B will extinguish A; or the two species have an implicit understanding of the findings in the fields of physiological
1296 SCIENCE, VOL. 131
*
genetics and population genetics, par- more bit of evidence that he appre- existence, each with its own costs and
ticularly as concerns blood groups, the ciated the exclusion principle- "We its own benefits. On such a foundation
applicability of both the inequality need not marvel at extinction; if we we may set about the task of establish-
axiom and the exclusion principle is must marvel, let it be at our own mg a sclence ot ecologlca englneerlng.
rapidly becoming accepted. William C. presumption in imagining for a mo-
References
Boyd has recorded, in a dramatic way ment that we understand the many
complex contingencies on which the 1. Anonymous, J. Animal Ecol. 13, 176 ( 1944) a
(29), his escape from the bondage of 2. G. Hardin, Nature and Man's Fate (Rine-
psychological denial. The emotional existence of each species depends." hart, New York, 1959).
3. , Am. J. Psychiat. 114, 392 (1957).
restrictions of rational discussion in I think it is not too much to say 4. C. Elton, Animal Ecology (Macmillanw
this field are immense. How "the strug- that in the history of ecology which New York, 1927).
5. A. J. Lotka, J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 22, 469
gle against the struggle for existence" in the broadest sense includes the sci- ( 1932) .
will be waged in the field of human ence of economics and the study of 6. V. Volterra, Mem. reale accad. nazl. Lincer,
Classe sci. fis. mat. e nat. ser. 6, No. 2 (1926).
genetics promises to make the next population genetics we stand at the 7. , Leons sur la Theorie Mathematique
decade of study one of the most ex- threshold of a renaissance of under- de la Lutte pour la Vie (Gauthier-Villars,
Paris, 1931).
citing of man's attempts to accept the standing, a renaissance made possible 8. G. E. Hutchinson, Cold Spring Harbor
Symposia Quant. Biol. 22, 415 (1957).
implications of scientific knowledge. by the explicit acceptance of the com- 9. G. F. Gause, The Struggle f or Existence
Ecology. Once one has absorbed the petitive exclusion principle. This prin- (Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, 1934); H.
H. Ross, Evolution 11, 113 (1957).
competitive exclusion principle into ciple, like much of the essential theory 10. O. Gilbert, T. B. Reynoldson, J. HobartS
one's thinking it is curious to note of evolution, has (I think) long been J. Animal Ecol. 21, 310-312 (1952).
11. C. Darwin, On the Origin of Species by
how one of the most popular problems psychologically denied, as the pene- Means of Natural Selection (MacmillanS
New York, 1lew ed. 6, 1927).
of evolutionary speculation is turned trating study of Morse Peckham (31) 12. T. Park and M. Lloyd, Am. Naturalist 89>
1lpside down. Probably most people, indicates. The reason for the denial 235 ( 1955 ) .
13. R. M. Thrall, C. H. Coombs, R. L. Davis5
when first taking in the picture of his- is the usual one: admission of the Decision Processes (Wiley, New York
torical evolution, are astounded at the principle to conciousness is painful. 1954), pp. 22-23.
14. A. J. Lotka, Elements of Physical Biology
number of species of plants and ani- [Evidence for such an assertion is, in (Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, 1925 ) .
mals that have become extinct. From the nature of the case, diEcult to find, 15. A. J. Nicholson, J. Animal Ecol. 2, suppl.^
132-178 ( 1933 ) .
Simpson's gallant"guesstimates" (30), but for a single clear-cut example see 16. , Australian J. Zool. 2, 9 (1954).
17. R. H. MacArthur, Ecology 39, 599 ( 1958 ) .
it would appear that from 99 to 99.975 the letter by Krogman (32).] It is not 18. D. Lack, Darwin's Finches (University
percent of all species evolved are now sadism or masochism that makes us Press, Cambridge, 1947).
19. M. F. D. Udvardy, Ecology 40, 725 (1959).
extinct, the larger percentage corre- urge that the denial be brought to an 20. J. Grinnell, Auk 21, 364 (1904).
sponding to 3999 million species. This end. Rather, it is a love of the reality 21. W. C. Allee, A. E. Emerson, O. Park, T.
Park, K. P. Schmidt, Principles of Ecology
seems like a lot. Yet it is even more principle, and recognition that only (Saunders, Philadelphia, 1949).
remarkable that there should live at 22. G. Hardin, Sci. Monthly 70, 178 (1950).
those truths that aft admitted to the 23. F. Darwin, The Foundations of the Origie
any one time (for exampleS the pres- conscious mind are available for use of Species (University Press, Cambridge}
1909).
ent) as many as a million species, more in making sense of the world. To assert 24. J. Bertrand, J. savants (Sept. 1883), pp. 499-
or less competing with each other. the truth of the competitive exclusion 508.
25. H. Litchfield, Emma Darwin, A Century oS
Competition is avoided between some principle is not to say that nature is Family Letters, 1792-1896 (Murray, London
of the species that coexist in time by and always must be, everywhere, "red 1915).
26. M. Scriven, Science 130, 477 (1959).
separation in space. In addition, how- in tooth and claw." Rather, it is to 27. F. A. Lange, History of Materialism (Har-
ever, there are many ecologically more court Brace, New York, ed. 3, 1925).
point out that every instance of ap- 28. J. B. S. Haldane, Trans. Cambridge Philv
or less similar species that coexist. parent coexistence must be accounted Soc. 23, 19 (1924).
29. W. C. Boyd, Am. J. Human Genet. 11, 397
Their continued existence is a thing to for. Out of the study of all such in- (1959)
wonder at and to study. As Darwin stances will come a fuller knowledge 30. G. G. Simpson, Evolution 6, 342 (1952).
31. M. Peckham, Victorian Studies 3, 19 (1959).
said (11, p. 363) and this is one of the many prosthetic devices of co- 32. W. M. Krogman, Science 111, 43 (1950).