Stephen Jay Gould

Stephen Jay Gould This article is about the paleontologist and science writer. For the science fiction writer, see Steven Gould. For the 19th century businessman, see Jay Gould. Stephen Jay Gould (/ɡuːld/; September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002) was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. He was also one of the most influential and widely read writers of popular science of his generation.[1] Gould spent most of his career teaching at Harvard University and working at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. In the later years of his life, Gould also taught biology and evolution at New York University. Gould’s most significant contribution to evolutionary bi- Example of Tyrannosaurus rex in the American Natural History ology was the theory of punctuated equilibrium, which Museum, which Gould said inspired him to become a paleontol- he developed with Niles Eldredge in 1972.[2] The the- ogist (this particular example was mounted towards the end of ory proposes that most evolution is marked by long peri- Gould’s life). ods of evolutionary stability, which is punctuated by rare instances of branching evolution. The theory was con- trasted against phyletic gradualism, the idea that evolu- American Museum of Natural History, where he first en- tionary change is marked by a pattern of smooth and con- countered Tyrannosaurus rex. “I had no idea there were [7] tinuous change in the fossil record. such things—I was awestruck,” Gould once recalled. It was in that moment that he decided to become a paleon- Most of Gould’s empirical research was based on tologist. the land snail genera Poecilozonites and Cerion. He also contributed to evolutionary developmental biology, Raised in a secular Jewish home, Gould did not formally and has received wide praise for his book Ontogeny practice religion and preferred to be called an agnostic. and Phylogeny. In evolutionary theory he opposed Biologist Jerry Coyne, who had Gould on his thesis com- strict selectionism, sociobiology as applied to humans, mittee, described him as a “diehard atheist if there ever [8] and evolutionary psychology. He campaigned against was one.” Gould’s personal friend Oliver Sacks called [9] creationism and proposed that science and religion should him a “Jewish atheist”. When asked whether he was be considered two distinct fields (or "magisteria") whose an agnostic in an interview in Skeptic magazine, he re- authorities do not overlap.[3] sponded: Gould was known by the general public mainly from his “If you absolutely forced me to bet on the ex- 300 popular essays in the magazine Natural History,[4] istence of a conventional anthropomorphic de- and his books written for a non-specialist audience. In ity, of course I'd bet no. But, basically, Huxley April 2000, the US Library of Congress named him a was right when he said that agnosticism is the "Living Legend".[5] only honorable position because we really can- not know. And that’s right. I'd be real surprised if there turned out to be a conventional God. 1 Biography “I remember a story about Clarence Darrow, Stephen Jay Gould was born and raised in the community who was quite atheistic. Somebody asked him: of Bayside, a neighborhood of the northeastern section of “Suppose you die and your soul goes up there Queens in New York City. His father Leonard was a court and it turns out the conventional story is true stenographer, and his mother Eleanor was an artist whose after all?" Darrow’s answer was beautiful, and parents were Jewish immigrants living and working in I love the way he pictured it with the 12 apostles the city’s Garment District.[6] When Gould was five years in the jury box and with his reputation for giv- old his father took him to the Hall of Dinosaurs in the ing long speeches (he spoke two straight days 1 2 2 SCIENTIFIC CAREER to save Leopold and Loeb). He said that for Discover magazine, entitled, “The Median Isn't the Mes- once in his life he wasn't going to make a long sage”, which discusses his reaction to discovering that speech. He was just going to walk up to them, people with mesothelioma had a median lifespan of only bow low to the judge’s bench, and say, “Gen- eight months after diagnosis.[18] He then describes the tlemen, I was wrong."" true significance behind this number, and his relief upon realizing that statistical averages are just useful abstrac- tions, and do not encompass the full range of variation. Though he “had been brought up by a Marxist father”, he stated that his father’s politics were “very different” The median is the halfway point, which means that 50% from his own.[10] In describing his own political views, of people will die before eight months, but the other half he has said they “tend to the left of center.”[11] According will live longer, potentially much longer. He then needed to Gould the most influential political books he read were to determine where his personal characteristics placed C. Wright Mills' The Power Elite and the political writings him within this range. Given that the cancer was detected of Noam Chomsky.[11] early, the fact he was young, optimistic, and had the best treatments available, Gould concluded that he should be While attending Antioch College in the early 1960s, in the favorable half of the upper statistical range. Af- Gould was active in the civil rights movement and of- ter an experimental treatment of radiation, chemother- ten campaigned for social justice. When he attended the apy, and surgery, Gould made a full recovery, and his col- University of Leeds as a visiting undergraduate, he or- umn became a source of comfort for many people with ganized weekly demonstrations outside a Bradford dance cancer. hall which refused to admit Blacks. Gould continued these demonstrations until the policy was revoked.[12] Gould was also an advocate of medical marijuana. When Throughout his career and writings, he spoke out against he had cancer, he smoked the drug to alleviate the nau- cultural oppression in all its forms, especially what he saw sea associated with his medical treatments. According to as the pseudoscience used in the service of racism and Gould, his use of marijuana had a “most important ef- sexism.[13] fect” on his eventual recovery.[19] In 1998, he testified in the case of Jim Wakeford, a Canadian medical-marijuana Interspersed throughout his scientific essays for Natural user and activist. History magazine, Gould frequently referred to his non- scientific interests and pastimes. As a boy he collected baseball cards and remained a New York Yankees fan throughout his life. As an adult he was fond of science 1.3 Final illness and death fiction movies, but often lamented the poor quality of their presentation of science and of their storytelling.[14] Gould survived for 20 years until another cancer ended His other interests included singing in the Boston Ce- his life. Gould died on May 20, 2002, from a metastatic cilia, and he was a great aficionado of Gilbert and Sul- adenocarcinoma of the lung, a form of cancer which had [20] livan operas.[15] He collected rare antiquarian books and spread to his brain. This cancer was unrelated to his textbooks. He often traveled to Europe, and spoke abdominal cancer. He died in his home “in a bed set French, German, Russian, and Italian. He admired up in the library of his SoHo loft, surrounded by his Renaissance architecture. He sometimes alluded ruefully wife Rhonda, his mother Eleanor, and the many books [21] to his tendency to put on weight.[16] he loved.” 1.1 Marriage and family 2 Scientific career Gould was married twice. His first marriage was to artist Deborah Lee on October 3, 1965. Gould met Lee while they were students together at Antioch College.[7] They had two sons, Jesse and Ethan.[17] His second marriage in 1995 was to artist and sculptor Rhonda Roland Shearer.[17] 1.2 First bout of cancer In July 1982, Gould was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer affecting the abdominal lining and frequently found in people who have been exposed to asbestos or rock dust. After a diffi- cult two-year recovery, Gould published a column for Gould studied Cerion snails 2.2 Evolutionary developmental biology 3 Gould began his higher education at Antioch College, been “unexpected by most evolutionary biologists” and graduating with a double major in geology and philos- “had a major impact on paleontology and evolutionary ophy in 1963.[22] During this time, he also studied at biology”.[29] Some critics jokingly referred to the theory the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.[23] Af- of punctuated equilibrium as “evolution by jerks”,[30] ter completing graduate work at Columbia University in which prompted Gould to describe phyletic gradualism 1967 under the guidance of Norman Newell, he was im- as “evolution by creeps.”[31] mediately hired by Harvard University where he worked until the end of his life (1967–2002). In 1973, Har- vard promoted him to professor of geology and curator 2.2 Evolutionary developmental biology of invertebrate paleontology at the institution’s Museum of Comparative Zoology. In 1982 Harvard awarded him the title of Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology. The following year, 1983, he was awarded a fellowship at the American Associ- ation for the Advancement of Science, where he later served as president (1999–2001). The AAAS news re- lease cited his “numerous contributions to both scientific progress and the public understanding of science.”[24] He also served as president of the Paleontological Society (1985–1986) and of the Society for the Study of Evo- lution (1990–1991).

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