While Edgar Anderson made significant contributions to the Mangelsdorf and
Reeves 'tripartite hypothesis' on the origin of maize and added to the deve
lopment of hybrid corn, his interests ranged widely over many aspects of th
e plant. Ultimately, he captured this approach by stating that his goal was
'To study the plain old-fashioned Botany of Corn with the greatest possibl
e precision.' His work shows the power of an interdisciplinary research pro
gram that combined genetics, morphology and taxonomy while drawing on agron
omy, archaeology and anthropology.