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Richard Charles "Dick" Lewontin (born March 29, 1929) is an American evolutionary biologist, geneticist and social commentator. A leader in developing the mathematical basis of population genetics and evolutionary theory, he pioneered the notion of using techniques from molecular biology such as gel electrophoresis to apply to questions of genetic variation and evolution.

In a pair of 1966 papers co-authored with J.L. Hubby in the journal Genetics, Lewontin helped set the stage for the modern field of molecular evolution.

In 1979 he and Stephen Jay Gould introduced the term "spandrel" into evolutionary theory.

Lewontin strongly opposes genetic determinism, especially as allegedly expressed by sociobiology and evolutionary psychology.

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