From: Dylan Sunter (dylan.sunter@fisystem.com)
Date: Tue May 21 2002 - 05:33:17 MDT
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,719362,00.html
Evolution loses a key populariser
American author and controversialist Stephen Jay Gould dies of cancer, aged
60
Agencies in Boston
Tuesday May 21, 2002
The Guardian
Stephen Jay Gould, one of the world's best-known scientists and a witty
prolific author who influenced the debate on evolution died of cancer, aged
60, at his home in New York city yesterday, his assistant, Stephanie Schur,
announced.
Gould joined the academic staff of Harvard University in 1967 and was
appointed professor in 1973.
Enamoured of the mysteries of evolution, he was known for the engaging,
often witty style evident in his collections of essays, which included Ever
Since Darwin, The Panda's Thumb, and The Mismeasure of Man, a study of
intelligence testing and winner of the US National Book Critics Award in
1982.
Much of his research work focused on the land snails of the West Indies,
which he occasionally used to support a point in his articles for general
readers, in which he sought to make the complex debates about geology,
palaeontology and evolutionary biology accessible to the public.
He analysed evolutionary theory, criticising elements of it at points, with
comparisons to a range of disciplines, including popular culture and
sports..
One of his favourite causes was the idea of "punctuated equilibrium", in
which he emphasised that evolution consisted of relatively rapid spurts of
species evolution rather than gradual, continuous transformations.
He also emphasised the importance of statistics in studying evolutionary
variation.
Gould received his bachelor's degree from Antioch College in 1963 and
enrolled in Columbia University.
For his doctoral dissertation he investigated fossil land snails of Bermuda.
He did work toward his doctorate at the American Museum of Natural History.
In one of his essays about evolution, Darwin's Middle Road, for his monthly
column in Natural History magazine, he wrote: "If genius has any common
denominator, I would propose breadth of interest and the ability to
construct fruitful analogies between fields."
Gould was the recipient of several awards, including the National Magazine
Award for Essays and Criticism for his column in Natural History in 1980 and
the American Book Award in science for Panda's Thumb in 1981.
In 1975, Gould received the Schuchert Award, given each year by the
Paleontological Society for excellence in research to a paleontologist under
40.
When he reached 40, in 1981, abdominal mesothelioma, a rare cancer usually
associated with asbestos, and usually fatal within a year, was diagnosed.
Experimental treatment saved him, but his death was erroneously reported at
the time.
Having dragged himself to Harvard medical library to study the disease, he
wrote: "When my skein runs out I hope to face the end calmly and in my own
way."
But he added: "Death is the ultimate enemy and I find nothing reproachable
in those who rage mightly against the dying of the light."
Dylan Sunter
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