Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "Earnest Hooton" - New World
(copied from Wikipedia) |
|||
| Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
{{epname}} | {{epname}} | ||
| + | '''Earnest Albert Hooton''' (born November 20, 1887 in Clemansville, Wisconsin – died May 3, 1954, in Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an American [[physical anthropology | physical anthropologist]] known for his work on racial classification. | ||
| + | ==Life== | ||
| − | + | Hooton attended Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin where he earned his BA there in 1907. He won a prestigious [[Rhodes Scholarship]] to [[Oxford University]], which he deferred in order to continue his studies in the United States. He pursued graduate studies in Classics at the [[University of Wisconsin]] where he received an MA in 1908 and a Ph.D. in 1911, with thesis on "The Pre-Hellenistic Stage of the Evolution of the Literary Art at Rome". Hooton then moved to England. He found the classical scholarship at Oxford uninteresting, but quickly became interested in anthropology, which he studied with [[R.R. Marrett]], receiving a diploma in 1912. At the conclusion of his time in England, he was hired by [[Harvard University]], where he taught until his death in 1954. During this time he was also Curator of Somatology at the nearby [[Peabody Museum for Archaeology and Ethnology]]. | |
| − | Hooton was | + | Hooton was known for combining a rigorous attention to scholarly detail combined with a candid and witty personal style. Henry Shapiro remembers that his lectures "were compounded of a strange, unpredictable mixture of strict attention to his duty to present the necessary facts... and of a delightful impatience with the restrictions of this role to which he seemed to react by launching into informal, speculative, and thoroughly entertaining and absorbing discussions of the subject at hand." As a result Hooton attracted a large number of students and established Harvard as a center for physical anthropology in the United States. |
| − | Hooton was known for | + | Hooton was also a public figure well-known for popular volumes with titles like ''Up From the Apes'', ''Young Man, You are Normal'', and ''Apes, Men, and Morons''. He was also a gifted cartoonist and wit, and like his contemporaries [[Ogden Nash]] and [[James Thurber]] he published occasional poems and drawings that were eventually collected and published. |
| + | |||
| + | ==Work== | ||
Many of Hooton's research projects were endebted to his training in physical anthropology at a time when this field consisted most of anatomy and focused on physiological variation between individuals. The 'Harvard Fanny Study', for instance, involved measuring buttock spread and buttock-knee lengths in order to design more comfortable chairs for the Pennsylvania railroad. A similar study on the restrictive shape of ball-turrets in the [[B-17]] aircraft was decisive in the creation of a mature applied physical anthropology in the United States. | Many of Hooton's research projects were endebted to his training in physical anthropology at a time when this field consisted most of anatomy and focused on physiological variation between individuals. The 'Harvard Fanny Study', for instance, involved measuring buttock spread and buttock-knee lengths in order to design more comfortable chairs for the Pennsylvania railroad. A similar study on the restrictive shape of ball-turrets in the [[B-17]] aircraft was decisive in the creation of a mature applied physical anthropology in the United States. | ||
| − | Hooton | + | Like many others of his time, he used comparative anatomy to divide humanity up into [[race]]s — in Hooton's case, this involved describing the morphological characteristics of different 'primary races' and the various 'subtypes'. |
| + | |||
| + | ==Legacy== | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==References== | ||
| + | |||
| + | *Birdsell, Joseph. (1987). Some reflections on fifty years in biological anthropology. Annual Reviews of Anthropology, 16, 1-12. | ||
| − | + | *Krogman, Wilton. (1976). Fifty years of physical anthropology: the men, the materials, the concepts, and the methods. Annual Reviews of Anthropology, 5, 1-14. | |
| − | + | *Shapiro, H. (1954). [http://www.aaanet.org/gad/history/083hootonobit.pdf Earnest Albert Hooton, 1887-1954] ''American Anthropologist'' 56, 6, 1081-1084 | |
| − | + | *Garn, Stanley & Giles, Eugene. (1995). Earnest Albert Hooton, November 20 1887 - May 3 1954. Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America v. 68 167-180. | |
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | *Garn, Stanley | ||
{{Credit1|Earnest_Hooton|50501199|}} | {{Credit1|Earnest_Hooton|50501199|}} | ||
Revision as of 16:54, 25 June 2006
Earnest Albert Hooton (born November 20, 1887 in Clemansville, Wisconsin – died May 3, 1954, in Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an American physical anthropologist known for his work on racial classification.
Life
Hooton attended Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin where he earned his BA there in 1907. He won a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, which he deferred in order to continue his studies in the United States. He pursued graduate studies in Classics at the University of Wisconsin where he received an MA in 1908 and a Ph.D. in 1911, with thesis on "The Pre-Hellenistic Stage of the Evolution of the Literary Art at Rome". Hooton then moved to England. He found the classical scholarship at Oxford uninteresting, but quickly became interested in anthropology, which he studied with R.R. Marrett, receiving a diploma in 1912. At the conclusion of his time in England, he was hired by Harvard University, where he taught until his death in 1954. During this time he was also Curator of Somatology at the nearby Peabody Museum for Archaeology and Ethnology.
Hooton was known for combining a rigorous attention to scholarly detail combined with a candid and witty personal style. Henry Shapiro remembers that his lectures "were compounded of a strange, unpredictable mixture of strict attention to his duty to present the necessary facts... and of a delightful impatience with the restrictions of this role to which he seemed to react by launching into informal, speculative, and thoroughly entertaining and absorbing discussions of the subject at hand." As a result Hooton attracted a large number of students and established Harvard as a center for physical anthropology in the United States.
Hooton was also a public figure well-known for popular volumes with titles like Up From the Apes, Young Man, You are Normal, and Apes, Men, and Morons. He was also a gifted cartoonist and wit, and like his contemporaries Ogden Nash and James Thurber he published occasional poems and drawings that were eventually collected and published.
Work
Many of Hooton's research projects were endebted to his training in physical anthropology at a time when this field consisted most of anatomy and focused on physiological variation between individuals. The 'Harvard Fanny Study', for instance, involved measuring buttock spread and buttock-knee lengths in order to design more comfortable chairs for the Pennsylvania railroad. A similar study on the restrictive shape of ball-turrets in the B-17 aircraft was decisive in the creation of a mature applied physical anthropology in the United States.
Like many others of his time, he used comparative anatomy to divide humanity up into races — in Hooton's case, this involved describing the morphological characteristics of different 'primary races' and the various 'subtypes'.
Legacy
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Birdsell, Joseph. (1987). Some reflections on fifty years in biological anthropology. Annual Reviews of Anthropology, 16, 1-12.
- Krogman, Wilton. (1976). Fifty years of physical anthropology: the men, the materials, the concepts, and the methods. Annual Reviews of Anthropology, 5, 1-14.
- Shapiro, H. (1954). Earnest Albert Hooton, 1887-1954 American Anthropologist 56, 6, 1081-1084
- Garn, Stanley & Giles, Eugene. (1995). Earnest Albert Hooton, November 20 1887 - May 3 1954. Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America v. 68 167-180.
Credits
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:
The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:
Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.
