Popular science writing has received increasing interest, especially in its relation to professional science. I extend the current scholarly focus from the nineteenth to the twentieth century by providing a microhistory of the early popular writings of evolutionary biologist John Maynard Smith (1920–2004). Linking them to the state of evolutionary biology as a professional science as well as Maynard Smith’s own professional standing, I examine the interplay between author, text and audiences. In particular, I focus on Maynard Smith’s book The Theory of Evolution (Penguin 1958) and show how he used it to both promote neo-Darwinism and advocate the utility of mathematics in biology. Following in the footsteps of Charles Darwin and David Lack, Maynard Smith was a science communicator blurring the lines between genres (popular, professional, textbook) and audiences (expert and non-expert) while contributing to ongoing discussions within and on the profession of evolutionary biology around the Darwin-Wallace centenary.

中文翻译：

---

使科普故事复杂化：约翰·梅纳德·史密斯 (John Maynard Smith) 关于进化论的“小企鹅”

科普写作受到越来越多的关注，尤其是在与专业科学的关系方面。我通过提供进化生物学家约翰·梅纳德·史密斯 (John Maynard Smith) (1920–2004) 早期流行著作的微观历史，将当前的学术重点从 19 世纪扩展到 20 世纪。将它们与进化生物学作为一门专业科学的状态以及梅纳德史密斯自己的专业地位联系起来，我研究了作者、文本和观众之间的相互作用。我特别关注梅纳德·史密斯 (Maynard Smith) 的著作《进化论》(Penguin 1958)，并展示了他如何使用它来促进新达尔文主义并倡导数学在生物学中的效用。跟随查尔斯·达尔文和大卫·拉克的脚步，梅纳德·史密斯是一位科学传播者，他模糊了流派（流行、专业、