Dear Margulisians,

When we were closing the Margulis Lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, we were told by the Dean of the College of Natural Sciences and the head of the Geosciences that “Lynn’s star in science would quickly fade.” As this newsletter demonstrates, their prediction was decidedly wrong.
All of the papers linked to in this issue are “must reads.” Taken together they paint a picture of evolution and life that corrects the so-called Modern Synthesis that held sway during the 20th-century. It is as sharp a departure from that origin story as On the Origin of Species was from Genesis. Darwin was not alone or without “illustrious predecessors” in his ideas of descent with modification. Darwin’s star shines brighter now than it has in the past 70 years, having shed the unfounded assertions and assumptions of neo-Darwinism.
This is not to say that the story Margulis (among many) championed is the accurate and precise last word as these papers also demonstrate: facts in science evolve and still hold surprises.
Prepare to be surprised.