Arthur Keith

Arthur Keith (born February 5, 1866 – died January 7, 1955), was a Scottish anatomist and physical anthropologist, one of the leading figures in the study of human fossils. The strong supporter of Charles Darwin, he wrote more that 500 publications in the area of human anatomy and evolution.

Life

Arthur Keith was born in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the sixth of ten children of John Keith and Jessie MacPherson. After Charles Darwin published his Origin of Species in 1859, Keith became so impressed with the book that he decided to prepare for a medical education. He obtained a Bachelor of Medicine at the University of Aberdeen in 1888. At the college he came under influence of the botanist James Trail and the anatomist John Struthers.

After his graduation he accepted the post as medical officer to a mining company in Siam, and traveled there on a gold mining trip. There he became interested in local monkeys and apes, and started to collect information on their anatomy. It was also there that he started to write on the human evolution. After three years, upon his return to Britain Keith decided to study anatomy. In 1894, he was awarded the M.D. by the University of Aberdeen for a thesis entitled The Myology of the Catarrhini: A Study in Evolution. In the same year he was made a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

In 1895, he was named Senior Demonstrator of Anatomy at the London Hospital and in 1899 he was appointed the head of the department. In 1897 he published An Introduction to the Study of Anthropoid Apes. In 1900 he married Celia Gray.

In 1908 Keith resigned from the hospital to become the Conservator of the Royal College of Surgeons Museum and shortly thereafter he became president of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain (1912-1914). He published his Ancient Types of Man in 1911. He also served as the fellow of the Royal Society from 1913 and Fullerian Professor of Physiology at the Royal Institution, from 1917 to 1923. .

Keith was knighted in 1921.

In 1927 he was appointed president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and in 1930 a rector of the University of Aberdeen (1930-1933).

In 1932, he helped found a research institute in Downe, Kent, where Charles Darwin once lived. In 1933 Keith was appointed Master of the institute, where he worked until his death.

Keith died on January 7, 1955, in Downe, Kent, England, at the age of 89.

Work

Early career

Keith is best remembered for his contributions to physical anthropology. In his early career, however he spent considerable amount of time on the research in human anatomy. His studies on the causes of cardiac arrhythmia are well deserved to mention. Together with Martin Flack, he described the "sino-auricular node" of the heart and its function. He published his well-known text Human Embryology and Morphology, in 1902, which reached six editions.

Anthropologist

In 1911 Keith published his Ancient Types of Men, which marks his turn to anthropology. In it he claimed that Homo Sapiens species had longer history that it was previously believed. Keith believed, similar to French paleoanthropology Marcellin Boule, that Neanderthals were not the direct ancestors of humans. After the discovery of the Piltdown man by Charles Dawson in 1912, Keith joined the group of scientists who defended the discovery. He argued that the scull was morphologically similar to modern humans, but did not directly question its authenticity. It was later discovered that the Piltdown man was a hoax, and Keith’s reputation suffered.

After the World War I, Keith’s interest increasingly turned toward study of the human evolution. Even though he publicly announced his support for Charles Darwin, he rejected his mechanistic worldview. He saw evolution not only in the terms of chance or natural selection, but also as guided by the law of Lamarckian inheritance of acquired characteristics. He nevertheless publicly propagated his strong support for Darwin. He said:

“The Darwinist's Bible is the great Book of Nature. Creeds will come and go, but this is the book which will endure as long as life lasts”. (The Religion of a Darwinist, p.24)

Keith also made a comprehensive study of the human fossils uncovered in the caves of Mount Carmel (1929-1934), near Haifa in Israel. He published his discoveries in his book entitled The Stone Age of Mount Carmel: the Fossil Remains from the Levalloiso-Mousterian (1939).

Evolution of Races

Keith also wrote on the evolution of races. He believed that the nationalism is a strong factor in the evolutionary development and differentiation of human races. He emphasized the competitive factor as the key in evolution, and saw racial and national prejudice as inborn.

In his book New Discoveries Relating to the Antiquity of Man (1931), Keith claimed that evidence suggested that modern races emerged from types already differentiated in the early Pleistocene.

In his Concerning Man's Origins, a book based on his Presidential Address at the British Association in 1927, he wrote a chapter entitled 'Capital as a Factor in Evolution' in which he proposes an interesting explanation for Britain's leading role in the development of Industrial Society. Essentially he argues that the cold unwelcoming climate of Britain selected those who came here for a special ability to store up food and supplies for the winter - those who didn't died out. This 'capitalism' provided a secure way of life with time to think and experiment, for a population that had been selected for inventiveness and resourcefulness. Out of this special population sprang the Industrial Revolution, centered on the colder northern parts of England where the high-tech developments of the time took place in spinning and weaving.

On the role of Christianity he wrote:

”Christianity makes no distinction of race or of color; it seeks to break down all racial barriers. In this respect the hand of Christianity is against that of Nature, for are not the races of mankind the evolutionary harvest which Nature has toiled through long ages to produce? May we not say, then, that Christianity is anti-evolutionary in its aim? (Evolution and Ethics, p.72).

One chapter, entitled The Jews as a Nation and as a Race, tackles what is often referred to as 'the Jewish Question', postulating that the Jews are a special case of a race that has evolved to live as the 'out-group' amongst other races, developing a special culture that enables it to survive by means of strong cultural traditions that bind the 'in-group' with unusual loyalty and defensiveness. Though such claims are controversial today, he is only saying what Shakespeare (Merchant of Venice) and others said, and he puts the facts for both sides fairly and honestly.

Legacy

Piltdown man hoax had seriously undermined Keith’s career, and his work and legacy are often seen through that prism. Keith wrote more than 500 works, mostly n the area of comparative anatomy and evolution. He was a strong supporter of Darwin and an agnostic, who also liked to participate in public debates on these topics.

In few of his works Keith put forward his ideas on the co-evolution of Human beings, Races, and Cultures, covering topics such as Patriotism, Resentment and Revenge, Morality, Leadership, Nationalism, and Race. The discussion of such ideas was later revived with E.O. Wilson's publication of Sociobiology and now thrives under the title of 'Evolutionary Psychology'.

Publications

• Keith, Arthur. 1897. An Introduction to the Study of Anthropoid Apes. London: Page & Pratt.
• Keith, Arthur. 1902. Human Embryology and Morphology. London: Arnold
• Keith, Arthur. 1911. Ancient Types of Man. London: Harper & brothers.
• Keith, Arthur. 1915. The Antiquity of Man. Williams & Norgate
• Keith, Arthur. 1919. Menders of the Maimed. London, H. Frowde.
• Keith, Arthur. 1919. Nationality and Race. London: H. Milford
• Keith, Arthur. 1920. The Engines of the Human Body. London: Williams and Norgate
• Keith, Arthur. 1925. The religion of a Darwinist, delivered at South Place Institute on March 26, 1925. Conway memorial lecture. London: Watts & Co.
• Keith, Arthur. 1927. Concerning Man's Origins. G. P. Putnam's Sons
• Keith, Arthur. 1928. Darwinism and what it implies. London: Watts & Co.
• Keith, Arthur. 1931. New discoveries relating to the antiquity of man. London: W.W. Norton.
• Keith, Arthur. 1939. The Stone Age of Mount Carmel: the Fossil Remains from the Levalloiso-Mousterian. Oxford: Clarenton Press
• Keith, Arthur. 1947. Evolution and ethics. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
• Keith, Arthur. 1948. A New Theory of Human Evolution.
• Keith, Arthur. 1950. An Autobiography. London: Watts

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• BookRags.com. Encyclopedia of World Biography on Arthur Keith. Retrieved on April 10, 2007, <http://www.bookrags.com/biography/arthur-keith-sir>
• Sir Arthur Keith. Minnesota State University. Retrieved on April 10, 2007, <http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/klmno/keith_arthur.html>

External links

• Biography – Keith’s biography on WhoNamedIt.com
• Evolution and Ethics - Full-text online edition of Keith’s book
• Quotations – Some quotes from Keith’s works

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