DOCSLIB.ORG

A Conversation With...Niles Eldredge

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Conversation With...Niles Eldredge Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/52/5/264/45012/4449106.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 Neil A. Campbell "It wasn't really a matter of seeking out a museum A lthough many working scientists are affiliatedwith a univer- environment or museum career. I came up under a sity or college, some conduct their researchin unusual settings. Niles Eldredgeis a paleontologistat the AmericanMuseum of Nat- programthat we still have-part American Museum ural History in New York City where he is the curatorof the In- of NaturalHistory, part ColumbiaUniversity. At that vertebrateCollection. For more than 20 years, Eldredgehas con- time the museum curators were simultaneously full ducted research, maintainedthe integrityof the collectionand in- teractedwith the museum's many visitors. faculty members as opposed to being adjuncts the Eldredge, a general session speaker at NABT's 1990 national way we are now. So it was natural for me to join the convention in Houston, is perhapsbest known for his work on the faculty at Columbiaat the same time that I joined the controversialtheory, punctuatedequilibrium. In addition to his researchand responsibilitiesat the museum, museum. Of course, there are certain aspects of uni- Eldredge has authored nine books on evolutionary theory for a versity life that you don't have here: the extensive general audience. teaching, for instance. Here you teach if and when you want. From the point of view of scientific re- Dr. Eldredge, could you tell us about your own edu- search, the great part about this museum is that it is cation and how your interest in science and paleon- first and foremost a research institute. Many people tology developed? have left university environments to come here be- "My interest in natural history and dinosaurs was cause of the emphasis on research." just about like that of most kids who grew up in the 1950s. A really important thing happened to me Are there other advantages to a museum appoint- when I went to college at Columbia University in ment besides the extra time you have for research? New York City. I took a paleontology course in my "It gives you the opportunity for closer contact with junior year, and I became very deeply involved with the public through exhibitions and educational pro- it. I think I had decided to become an academic al- grams. For example, I like to go on the museum's most before I picked a field, and then I got swept educational cruises and hang over the ship's rail and away with circumstance and found a field very have a beer with people and talk about fossils, evolu- quickly for which I developed a real, intense love- tion and so on, and admit that I don't always know invertebrate fossils. There are literally trillions of all the answers." them out there, so it looked like a wonderful oppor- tunity." This interview is the last in a series excerpted from con- versations between eminent biologists and Neil A. Camp- bell, author of the textbook Biology(Benjamin/Cummings And now you're a curatorin the Department of In- Publishing Co., Redwood City, CA). The interviews are from the second edition of Biology. vertebrateshere at the American Museum of Natural Campbellhas taught general biology at CornellUniversity, History in New York. Most academics opt for uni- Pomona College and San BemardinoValley College. He is versity careers. How is it that you decided on a mu- now at the University of California,Riverside. seum? 264 THE AMERICANBIOLOGY TEACHER, VOLUME 52, NO. 5, MAY1990 What does it actually mean to be curatorof inverte- public, in 1982, was TheMonkey Business. I got drawn brates? into that because I found myself unwittingly being "The first obligation of a curatoris original scientific used by the creationism movement. I had given an research. Service to the museum comes next and in a interview in which I was attempting to say that I collection-based department such as ours, that thought it would be appropriatefor a high school bi- means maintaining the collections. The museum is ology teacher getting into evolution to acknowledge really a library of natural history items. Curators that creationistbeliefs exist, that students may have have a mission to maintain these collections as a sort such religious beliefs but that they would be ex- of a public sacred trust. You have to have a commit- pected nonetheless to study what science says about ment to the importance of the work that revolves evolution. My position was misrepresented as sup- around the collections before you work in a museum. porting the teaching of creationismin high schools. I Computerizing the collections is another task. We felt embarrassed and used. I got mad and wrote a have an on-line collection inventory that people can little article for the New Republicand then later ex- call from all over the country. The scientific staff is panded it into a book. As I was doing this, I found also responsible for the veracity of the content of the out that I had to be able to explain to anybody what exhibits. There are normal administrative duties, the basics of evolution were, and that turned out to teaching at institutions in the vicinity, giving lectures not be as easy as I had thought. I also realized that a Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/52/5/264/45012/4449106.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 and so on. And of course, field work takes us out of lot of my colleagues were in the same boat, and I the museum." thought that it was incumbent upon all of us to try to address this communicationproblem. The museum is setting up a laboratoryfor molecular When you write for the general public you can systematics. How do you think molecular biology write for intelligent people who don't share all the will influence modern evolutionary biology? special training in a field and still write things that "In several ways. Molecularbiology gives us insight are very interesting and from which readers can into things we can't see with our old technology, and learn. Another side of this is that you can take your this potential is very exciting. What is even more in- message to the intellectual world by spreading it teresting to me is to see molecular biologists who even more widely. Several times in my careerI have don't want to be just molecular biologists, but are had colleagues point to a general piece of writing and thinking, 'This has to have some evolutionaryimpli- say, 'That is the first time I have ever really under- cations.' It is quite obvious already from gene se- stood that point.' The mid-ground, as I see it, is the quencing data that there are greatersimilarities in the fact that I am always writing for students." sequences between organisms that share a relatively recent common ancestor. And comparisons of DNA There has been a revival of interest in paleontology can be used to assess more distant relationships.The in the past 10 years or so. How do you account for reason I am particularly interested in seeing this this? work done in our department is that invertebrates "That is an intriguing question, and I don't have a were already differentiated into the major phyla pat answer. Traditionally,paleontologists have been about 600 million years ago. I am hoping that the content to describe the contents, the furniture,of the data for highly conserved sequences of DNA will world and have not been too concerned about cause. help us analyze the evolutionary relationships be- They write about what has happened and pay less tween the major groups of invertebrates." attention to how or why it happened. In the 70s they started talking about causal relationshipsrather than Are there opportunities for undergraduatesor new simply describingfossils. In addition, they didn't just graduates to intern in natural history museums? take a body of biological theory on faith and use it to "We have had a graduate/undergraduate research explain the fossil data; they looked at the fossil data program;I started here in that program. It is not re- and asked, 'What does this tell us about the theory?' stricted to summer, though it is used mostly during This made paleontology more exciting. By the late the summer. In addition, the museum is now giving 70s there were rumblings from the paleontological pre-doctoralfellowships. It is incumbent upon us to community about the nature of the evolutionarypro- train our successors. We have to become even more cess, and biologists and geneticists were beginning to dedicated to an educational approach than we have take notice. At the same time, creationism was re- been." surfacing, and the creationistswere quoting the new theory called "punctuated equilibrium."We "Punc Dr. Eldredge, you have written several books for Eeeks"-Stephen Jay Gould, Steven Stanley, myself non-scientists. What moves you to write for the gen- and a number of other people-seemed to give aid eral audience? and succor to the enemy by daring to criticize the "One of the first books that I wrote for the general Darwinian message, when in fact we were turning ELDREDGE 265 out to be some of the more vocal, more visible anti- of species changed. If it is not possible to relocateto a creationists. So that brought paleontologists back tolerable environment, then extinction is the next into view. And then there is the phenomenon of Ste- most likely thing. The least likely thing is for a phen Jay Gould himself, an exceptionally popular species to become modified in the face of a changing writer for the general audience.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Tempo and Mode of Evolution Reconsidered Stephen Jay Gould
    Punctuated Equilibria: The Tempo and Mode of Evolution Reconsidered Stephen Jay Gould; Niles Eldredge Paleobiology, Vol. 3, No. 2. (Spring, 1977), pp. 115-151. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0094-8373%28197721%293%3A2%3C115%3APETTAM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-H Paleobiology is currently published by Paleontological Society. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/journals/paleo.html. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. The JSTOR Archive is a trusted digital repository providing for long-term preservation and access to leading academic journals and scholarly literature from around the world. The Archive is supported by libraries, scholarly societies, publishers, and foundations. It is an initiative of JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the scholarly community take advantage of advances in technology. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. http://www.jstor.org Sun Aug 19 19:30:53 2007 Paleobiology.
    [Show full text]
  • Springer A++ Viewer
    PublisherInfo PublisherName : BioMed Central PublisherLocation : London PublisherImprintName : BioMed Central Stephen Jay Gould dies ArticleInfo ArticleID : 4486 ArticleDOI : 10.1186/gb-spotlight-20020522-01 ArticleCitationID : spotlight-20020522-01 ArticleSequenceNumber : 152 ArticleCategory : Research news ArticleFirstPage : 1 ArticleLastPage : 3 RegistrationDate : 2002–5–22 ArticleHistory : OnlineDate : 2002–5–22 ArticleCopyright : BioMed Central Ltd2002 ArticleGrants : ArticleContext : 130593311 Hal Cohen Email: [email protected] PHILADELPHIA - Stephen Jay Gould, paleontologist, evolutionary biologist and popular author, died of abdominal mesothelioma Monday in New York City. He was 60. A provocative and controversial thinker, Gould was a fierce public defender of evolution. He became a figurehead for paleontology by making difficult concepts more digestible for the public in forums such as The New York Times and The New York Review of Books. While in graduate school, Gould and fellow student Niles Eldredge disputed the theories of evolution, which held that changes in organisms only occurred gradually, over eons. In their theory, known as punctuated equilibrium, evolution proceeded in bursts, followed by long periods of stasis. Thirty years later after their theory was first developed, the debate still rages. Among the many awards and honors bestowed upon Gould were membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. He also served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Gould wrote more than a dozen books, most recently publishing the 1,454-page The Structure of Evolutionary Theory (Harvard, 2001) and, this month, I Have Landed : The End of a Beginning in Natural History (Harmony Books, 2002).
    [Show full text]
  • Darwin's Doubt
    Debating Darwin’s Doubt A Scientific Controversy that Can No Longer Be Denied DAVID KLINGHOFFER, EDITOR DISCOVERY INSTITUTE PRESS SEATTLE 2015 Description This book contains essays responding to criticism of Darwin’s Doubt: The Explosive Origin of Animal Life and the Case for Intelligent Design by Stephen Meyer. The book explores topics such as orphan genes, cladistics, small shelly fossils, protein evolution, the length of the Cambrian explosion, the God-of-the-Gaps objection to intelligent design, and criticisms raised by proponents of theistic evolution. Contributors include Stephen Meyer, Douglas Axe, David Berlinski, William Dembski, Ann Gauger, Casey Luskin, and Paul Nelson. Edited by David Klinghoffer. Copyright Notice Copyright © 2015 by Discovery Institute. All Rights Reserved. Publisher’s Note This book is part of a series published by the Center for Science & Culture at Discovery Institute in Seattle. Previous books include Signature of Controversy: Responses to CritiCs of Signature in the Cell, edited by David Klinghoffer; The Myth of Junk DNA by Jonathan Wells; The Deniable Darwin & Other Essays by David Berlinski; and DisCovering Intelligent Design: A Journey into the SCientifiC EvidenCe by Gary Kemper, Hallie Kemper, and Casey Luskin. Library Cataloging Data Debating Darwin’s Doubt: A SCientifiC Controversy that Can No Longer Be Denied Edited by David Klinghoffer. BISAC Subject: SCI027000 SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Evolution BISAC Subject: SCI080000 SCIENCE / Essays BISAC Subject: SCI034000 SCIENCE / History ISBN-13: 978-1-936599-30-1 (Kindle) 978-1-936599-31-8 (EPUB) 978-1-936599-28-8 (paperback) Publisher Information Discovery Institute Press, 208 Columbia Street, Seattle, WA 98101 Internet: http://www.discoveryinstitutepress.com/ First Edition.
    [Show full text]
  • Speciation and Bursts of Evolution
    Evo Edu Outreach (2008) 1:274–280 DOI 10.1007/s12052-008-0049-4 ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE Speciation and Bursts of Evolution Chris Venditti & Mark Pagel Published online: 5 June 2008 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008 Abstract A longstanding debate in evolutionary biology Darwin’s gradualistic view of evolution has become widely concerns whether species diverge gradually through time or accepted and deeply carved into biological thinking. by rapid punctuational bursts at the time of speciation. The Over 110 years after Darwin introduced the idea of natural theory of punctuated equilibrium states that evolutionary selection in his book The Origin of Species, two young change is characterised by short periods of rapid evolution paleontologists put forward a controversial new theory of the followed by longer periods of stasis in which no change tempo and mode of evolutionary change. Niles Eldredge and occurs. Despite years of work seeking evidence for Stephen Jay Gould’s(Eldredge1971; Eldredge and Gould punctuational change in the fossil record, the theory 1972)theoryofPunctuated Equilibria questioned Darwin’s remains contentious. Further there is little consensus as to gradualistic account of evolution, asserting that the majority the size of the contribution of punctuational changes to of evolutionary change occurs at or around the time of overall evolutionary divergence. Here we review recent speciation. They further suggested that very little change developments which show that punctuational evolution is occurred between speciation events—aphenomenonthey common and widespread in gene sequence data. referred to as evolutionary stasis. Eldredge and Gould had arrived at their theory by Keywords Speciation . Evolution . Phylogeny.
    [Show full text]
  • Evidence for Evolution
    CHAPTER 3 Evidence for Evolution VOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY HAS PROFOUNDLY altered our view of nature and of ourselves. At the beginning of this book, we showed the practical application of Eevolutionary biology to agriculture, biotechnology, and medicine. More broadly, evolutionary theory underpins all our knowledge of biology, explains how organisms came to be (both describing their history and identi- fying the processes that acted), and explains why they are as they are (why organisms reproduce sexually, why they age, and so on). How- ever, arguably its most important influence has been on how we view ourselves and our place in the world. The radical scope of evolution- ary biology has for many been hard to accept, and this has led to much misunderstanding and many objections. In this chapter, we summarize the evidence for evolution, clarify some common misun- derstandings, and discuss the wider implications of evolution by natural selection. Biological evolution was widely accepted soon after the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859 (Chapter 1.x). Charles Darwin set out “one long argument” for the “descent with modification” of all liv- ing organisms, from one or a few common ancestors. He marshaled evidence from classification of organisms, from the fossil record, from geographic distribution of organisms, and by analogy with artificial se- lection. As we saw in Chapter 1, the detailed processes that cause evo- lution remained obscure until after the laws of heredity were established in the early 20th century. By the time of the Evolutionary Synthesis,in the mid-20th century, these processes were well understood and, cru- cially, it was established that adaptation is due to natural selection (Chapter 1.x).
    [Show full text]
  • Download Curriculum Vitae
    NILES ELDREDGE CURATOR AND PROFESSOR DIVISION OF PALEONTOLOGY HIGHEST DEGREE EARNED Ph. D. AREA OF SPECIALIZATION Evolution of mid-Paleozoic phacopid trilobites EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE Ph.D. in Geology, Columbia University, October 1969 A.B., Summa Cum Laude, Columbia College, New York, June 1965 PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IN DOCTORAL EDUCATION FACULTY APPOINTMENTS Adjunct Professor, Earth and Environmental Sciences, City University of New York, 1992-present Adjunct Professor, Biology, City University of New York, 1972-present Associate Professor, Department of Geology, Columbia University, 1974-1981 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, Columbia University, 1969-1974 GRADUATE ADVISEES Ilya Tëmkin, Ph.D. candidate, New York University, 2003-present Yumiko Iwasaki, Ph.D. candidate, Geology, City University of New York, 2000-present GRADUATE COMMITTEES Ilya Tëmkin, Ph.D. candidate, New York University, 2003-present Yumiko Iwasaki, Ph.D. candidate, Geology, City University of New York, 2000-present RECENT ARTICLES IN REFEREED JOURNALS (2003-2008) Eldredge, N. Ms. Darwin, The Beagle, and Evolution Eldredge, N. In Press. Material Cultural Macroevolution Eldredge, N. 2008. Some thoughts on “adaptive peaks,” “Dobzhansky’s dilemma,”—and how to think about evolution. Evolution: Education and Outreach 1 (3): DOI:10.1007/s12052-008-0057-4. www.Springer.com/12052 Eldredge, N. 2008. Paleontology and Evolution. Essay Review of Evolution. What the Fossils Say and Why it Matters, by Donald Prothero. Evolution DOI:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2008.00382.x Kark, Salit, L. Hadany, U. N. Safriel, I. Noy-Meir, N. Eldredge, C. Tabarroni and E. Randi. 2008. How does genetic diversity change towards the range periphery? An empirical and theoretical test.
    [Show full text]
  • Darwin: Educators' Professional Development Program Evaluation Prepared by Ellen Giusti
    Darwin: Educators' Professional Development Program Evaluation Prepared by Ellen Giusti New York area educators were invited to a professional development event at the American museum of Natural History on February 2, 2006, from 4:00 to 7:00 PM. The purpose of the evening was to acquaint teachers with the Museum's Darwin exhibition and to offer methods for using it to enhance classroom instruction. The event took place in the Hall of Reptiles and Amphibians and the exhibition in Gallery 3. Darwin is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (www.amnh.org), in collaboration with the Museum of Science, Boston; The Field Museum, Chicago; the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada; and the Natural History Museum, London, England. The evening began with a talk by Darwin curator, Niles Eldredge, followed by remarks from AMNH Education staff and NYC Board of Education officials. Educators then visited the exhibition and attended demostrations of activities designed to broaden the scope of the exhibition for students. Demonstration tables focused on journal writing, botany, insect observations and voyage of the Beagle. In addition, educators were given materials to use in the classroom, both as stand-alone acitvities and pre- and post-visit experiences. Educators were treated to an appetizing arrray of food and beverages, served by elegantly clad wait staff. Time was available for socializing and networking with colleagues. The American Museum of Natural History gratefully acknowledges The Howard Phipps Foundation for its leadership support. Significant support for Darwin has also been provided by Chris and Sharon Davis, the Austin Hearst Foundation, Jack and Susan Rudin, and Rosalind P.
    [Show full text]
  • Curriculum Vitae
    Curriculum Vitae Robert J. Richards 9/2018 2705 W. Fitch Ave. Chicago, Ill. 60645 USA Phone: (773) 743-8945; Fax: (773) 743-8949; Email: [email protected] Office: Social Science Building 205 The University of Chicago 1126 E. 59th St. Chicago, Ill. 60637 Phone: (773) 702-8348 or 702-8261 Home page: http://home.uchicago.edu/~rjr6 Married: Wife, Barbara Advanced Degrees: Ph.D., History of Science (The University of Chicago) M.A., Biological Psychology (The University of Nebraska) Ph.D., Philosophy (St. Louis University) Appointments at The University of Chicago: Distinguished Service Professor, 2011 Morris Fishbein Professor of the History of Science and Medicine, 2004 Professor, 1991- (Associate Professor, 1984-91; Assistant Professor, 1979-84) Department of History Conceptual and Historical Studies of Science Department of Psychology Department of Philosophy Director, Fishbein Center for the History of Science, 1992- Chair, Conceptual and Historical Studies of Science, 1984-94, 1998-1999, 2002-2003, 2005- 2006, 2008-2009, 2012-2013. Director, B.A. Program in History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science and Medicine, 1982- Visiting Teaching: Department of History of Science, Harvard University, Spring, 1983 Grinnell College, Mellon Professor, fall, 2007. 1 Honors: Distinguished Lecturer for the History of the Human Sciences, History of Science Society, 2016 Sarton Medal for distinguished scholarship, History of Science Society, 2011 Distinguished Service Professor, 2011 Laing Prize, University of Chicago Press, for The Tragic
    [Show full text]
  • Eldridge, the Sixth Extinction
    The Sixth Extinction (ActionBioscience) Page 1 of 6 biodiversity environment genomics biotechnology evolution new frontiers educator resources home search topic directory e-newsletter your feedback contact us The Sixth Extinction Niles Eldredge An ActionBioscience.org original article »en español articlehighlights Can we stop the devastation of our planet and save our own species? We are in a biodiversity crisis — the fastest mass extinction in Earth’s history, largely due to: z human destruction of ecosystems z overexploitation of species and natural resources z human overpopulation z the spread of agriculture z pollution June 2001 There is little doubt left in the minds of professional biologists that Earth is currently faced with a mounting loss of species that threatens to rival the five About 30,000 great mass extinctions of the geological species go past. As long ago as 1993, Harvard extinct annually. biologist E.O. Wilson estimated that Earth is currently losing something on the order of 30,000 species per year — which breaks down to the even more daunting Tyrannosaurus rex skull and upper vertebral column, a victim of the fifth major extinction. Palais de la statistic of some three species per hour. Découverte, Paris, photo by David.Monniaux. Some biologists have begun to feel that this biodiversity crisis — this “Sixth Extinction” — is even more severe, and more imminent, than Wilson had supposed. Extinction in the past The major global biotic turnovers were all caused by physical events that lay outside the normal climatic and other physical disturbances which species, and entire ecosystems, experience and survive. What caused them? z First major extinction (c.
    [Show full text]
  • Parsimonious Explanations for Punctuated Patterns
    Evo Edu Outreach (2008) 1:138–146 DOI 10.1007/s12052-007-0025-4 CURRICULUM ARTICLE Views from Understanding Evolution: Parsimonious Explanations for Punctuated Patterns Anastasia Thanukos Published online: 19 January 2008 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2007 Keywords Punctuated equilibria . Allopatric speciation . change (Fig. 1c)—in which, for example, tracing fossils Peripatric speciation . Parsimony . Teaching through rock layers that correspond to a slow cooling in Earth’s climate reveals the gradual evolution of traits suited to colder temperatures. This picture of slow evolution, Antievolution groups have frequently pointed to the debate which Eldredge and Gould termed phyletic gradualism, fits prompted by Niles Eldredge and Stephen Gould’s(1972) well with one of the keystones of evolutionary theory: proposal of punctuated equilibria with triumph. “Look,” natural selection, the process responsible for adapting they’ve claimed, “biologists can’t even agree among them- populations to changes in their environments. It is easy to selves how evolution works. The theory must be failing.” In imagine natural selection, for example, slowly transforming the article included in this issue, “Editor’s Corner: The Early a delicate tropical species into a hardy, well-insulated, cold- “Evolution” of “Punctuated Equilibria”,” Niles Eldredge tolerant species over many millions of years. In some cases, (2008) takes on that mischaracterization. He describes the we do observe such gradualistic patterns in the fossil roots of punctuated equilibria and reveals how it builds on record, but in many others, we observe evolution in (not tears down!) established evolutionary theory. apparent fits and starts. If the evolutionary mechanism of The idea of punctuated equilibria was inspired by a natural selection helps explain apparently gradual evolu- mysterious pattern in the fossil record.
    [Show full text]
  • 25-29 Obituaries
    IN MEMORIUM Norman D. Newell, faculty 1937-45, Paleontology evolution in welcome contrast with prior descriptive courses in Albert R. Perko, BA 1940 "Invertebrate Paleontology." In 1989 Gould wrote, "I was Norman James M. Parks, Jr., MS 1949, PhD 1951 Newell's student, and everything that I ever do, as long as I live, Lewis Austin Weeks, MS 1949, Bacteriology will be read as his legacy." In fact, Newell's 1963 paper, "Crises in Milton Zeni, BS 1949 the History of Life," anticipated and undoubtedly inspired Robert Dollase, BS 1950 Gould's and Eldridge's theory of punctuated equilibrium. Alonzo Jacka, MS 1957 Norman D. Newell was born in Chicago in 1909 and received William H. Guhl, BS 1960 his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Kansas, Robert M. Sneider, PhD 1962 where he worked his way through playing in a jazz band. His Tor H. Nilsen, MS 1964, PhD 1967 doctorate was from Yale. He is survived by his wife, the former Charles V. Guidotti, faculty 1969-81, Metamorphic Petrology Gillian Wormall. Gerard Bond, PhD 1970 Albert R. Perko, BA 1940 Charles W. (“Bill”) Berge, PhD 1972 A resident of Kirkland, WA, Mr. Perko passed away on Dec. Michael E. Durch, BS 1975 14, 2005 at the age of 89. He is survived by his wife Margaret, son Lee, and daughter Kathy. Norman D. Newell, faculty James M. Parks, Jr., MS 1949, PhD 1951 1937-45, Paleontology James Marshall Parks, Jr. died January 29, 2005 at his home Norman D. Newell, an in Wilmore, Kentucky.
    [Show full text]
  • Stephen Jay Gould: Did He Bring Paleontology to the “High Table”? a Review of Stephen Jay Gould: Reflections on His View of Life Edited by Warren D
    Philos Theor Biol (2009) 1:e001 Stephen Jay Gould: Did He Bring Paleontology to the “High Table”? A Review of Stephen Jay Gould: Reflections on His View of Life edited by Warren D. Allmon, Patricia H. Kelley, and Robert M. Ross Oxford University Press, 2009 Donald Prothero§ In the seven years since Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould died, there have been only a few assessments of his role in paleobiology and evolutionary theory. Although non- paleontologists still do not realize it, the “punctuated equilibrium” model first proposed by Gould and Niles Eldredge in 1972 has widespread acceptance among paleontologists. Nearly all metazoans show stasis, with almost no good examples of gradual evolution. The most important implication is that fossil species are static over millions of years, even in the face of dramatic climate changes and other environmental selection factors. This widespread stasis cannot be explained by simplistic concepts like “stabilizing selection,” and remains a mystery that neontologists have not fully addressed or successfully explained. Despite the hope that paleontology would reach the “High Table” of evolutionary biology, the fact that most biologists largely do not understand or accept the implications of paleontological concepts such as species sorting and coordinated stasis suggests that paleontology still has not made the impact on evolutionary thinking that it deserves. KEYWORDS Evolutionary theory ● Paleontology ● Punctuated equilibria ● Stasis ● Stephen Gould It has been over seven years since the passing of Stephen Jay Gould on May 20, 2002 at age 60. Given the normal slow pace of academic publishing, we are just beginning to see the book-length post-mortems by authors assessing his role as a scientist, scholar, and public figure.
    [Show full text]