Edgar Anderson: interdisciplinary authority on what was not known about corn

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.