Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "Eugène Dubois" - New World

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== References ==
 
== References ==
  
*Fossil Hominids: The Evidence for Human Evolution (n.d.). [http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/index.html| Creationist-Evolutionist Talk] Biography, controversy, and more
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*Fossil Hominids: The Evidence for Human Evolution (n.d.). [http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/index.html| Creationist-Evolutionist Talk] - Biography, controversy, and more
  
*Gould S.J. (1993). Men of the thirty-third division. In Eight little piggies. (pp. 124-37). New York: W.W.Norton.
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*Gould S.J. (1994). Eight little piggies: Reflections in Natural History. New York: W.W.Norton. ISBN 0393311392
  
*Michon, Scott, (2005). [http://www.strangescience.net/dubois.htm| ''Biography''] Dubois’ biography
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*Michon, Scott, (2005). [http://www.strangescience.net/dubois.htm| ''Biography''] - Dubois’ biography
  
*Shipman Pat. (2001). ''The man who found the missing link: The extraordinary life of Eugene Dubois''. New York: Simon & Schuster.  
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*Shipman Pat. (2001). ''The man who found the missing link: The extraordinary life of Eugene Dubois''. Diane Publishing Co. ISBN 075679160X
  
*Shipman, Pat. (2001). [http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?isbn=068485581X&sid=33| ''The Man Who Found The Missing Link''] Short biography
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*Shipman, Pat. (2001). [http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?isbn=068485581X&sid=33| ''The Man Who Found The Missing Link''] - Short biography
  
 
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Revision as of 21:51, 21 June 2006


Marie Eugène François Thomas Dubois (born January 28, 1858 – died December 16, 1940) was a Dutch anatomist, who earned worldwide fame with his discovery of the first specimens of early hominid remains to be found outside of Europe. These discoveries, made on the Indonesian island of Java, would later be classified as specimens of Homo erectus.

Life

Eugène Dubois was born in the Dutch city of Eijsden, into the family of Jean Joseph Balthasar Dubois and Maria Catharina Floriberta Agnes Roebroeck. Corresponding to his childhood, some important scientific progress has been made in the world of archeology and anthropology – in Germany, the remaining of an early hominid (later named Neanderthal) have been found in the Neander Valley, and Charles Darwin has just published his The Origin of Species. Dubois’ father, a pharmacist, encouraged his son interest in natural history. Dubois was an excellent student, and graduated as doctor of medicine in 1884. He married the same year and was appointed a lecturer in anatomy at the University of Amsterdam in 1886. He studied comparative anatomy of the larynx in vertebrates, and soon became an anatomy assistant under the Dutch morphologist Max Furbringer. However, Dubois’ life soon took unusual shift. It was probably that because of his dissatisfaction with his teaching duties and some conflicts with Furbringer, Dubois shifted toward the science of paleoanthropology, of which he knew very little at time. He became so infatuated with Charles Darwin’s work that he decided to leave his promising career at the University of Amsterdam and dedicate his life to prove Darwin right.

In 1887 Dubois joined Dutch Army Medical Service and was sent to Sumatra, a part of Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) as an army physician. He took his wife and a newly born child with him. After several futile years spent on excavations, due to harsh physical conditions of the terrain and numerous problems with his team members, Dubois decided to move to Java. Besides, a hominid scull has been found earlier at Javan site of Wadjak. The move to Java proved to be good one, for in September 1890, Dubois’ workers found a human-like fossil at Koedoeng Broeboes. In next several years Dubois excavated rest of what will be known as Java Man. The success would be complete if he and his wife did not lose a child to tropical fever.

Before his return to Netherlands in 1895, Dubois published his findings in 1894. On his way back the ship he and his wife and three children were on caught up in storm, and they narrowly survived. Dubois somehow managed to save the fossils he carried with him, by strapping the cases with them around his chests. Upon arriving to Europe, Dubois hoped that his discovery would change scientific world forever. However, he was welcomed instead with suspicion, skepticism, and disbelief. Some scientists accepted his explanations of the findings, but many did not. The controversy about it lasted for years, well into the 20th century.

In 1897 Dubois was awarded an honorary doctorate in botany and zoology at the University of Amsterdam, and in 1899 he was appointed a professor there in crystallography, mineralogy, geology and paleontology. He spent next twenty years in research in different areas, especially in the study of proportions of brain and body weight.

When in 1920s and 1930s more skeletons were found near Peking and on Java that resembled Java Man, Dubois’ fossils again became center of fiery debate. Dubois stubbornly argued in favor of his ideas, often remaining isolated from the rest of society. This cost him greatly - his wife left him, his best friend did not want to support him any more, and his colleagues lost interest in his lonely battle. Dubois retired in 1928, but remained active in scientific community, defending his position until his death in 1940. It is said that he died “alone, bitter and misunderstood” (see Pat Shipman, 2001). He was buried in Venlo, Netherland.

Work

Dubois’ early career consisted of a comparative study of animal larynx. He claimed that mammalian larynx evolved from gill cartilage of fishes. Dubois later turned toward paleoanthropology – a study of human evolution through fossils. He believed that fossils can prove that Darwin was right and that humans evolved from apes.

Though hominid fossils had been found and studied before, Dubois was the first anthropologist to embark upon a purposeful search for them. His desire was to find the “missing link” – the evolutionary step between apes and humans. Dubois was convinced that the origins of the human species must be in the tropics, so he went to Indonesia to start his exploration there.

After he discovered several fossils of seemingly hominid origin, he called his finds Pithecanthropus erectus or Java Man - "a species in between humans and apes". Today they are classified as Homo erectus. What Dubois found in 1890s was a set of teeth, a skullcap, and a left femur (thigh bone). The femur suggested that the owner of it had walked erect. From the teeth and the skull Dubois argued that the specimen was exactly between humans and apes on the evolutionary timeline.

Back in Europe Dubois toured the continent to convince his colleagues that he had indeed found a missing link, but although most anthropologists were intrigued they did not always agree with Dubois' interpretations. They replied that the fossils were either a primitive, possibly pathologically deformed human remains, or that they belonged to different individuals. Some scientists claimed that the fossils belonged to a giant ape, probably a gibbon, of which Java was famous for. After being questioned and ridiculed, Dubois stubbornly refused others access to his fossils, keeping them in the floor of his bedroom for more than twenty years. It was in 1923 that he was pressured by his colleagues to share the Java Man with academic community. The scientific debate slowly began to turn in his favor in the twenties and thirties. The discovery of Peking Men in 1929 and 1936, and some other fossils on Java showed that Java Man was not an isolated specimen, and that the new discoveries resembled him. Dubois however did not share this opinion, arguing that only Java Man was a true “missing link”, and that the rest were only human in essence.

Controversies

Series of controversies encircle Dubois’ discovery. First, Dubois originally found only a skullcap and a jaw, but later added to this collection a femur, which he clamed to overlook in his books. It led some to believe that he fabricated his findings to fit his ideas. Modern paleoanthropologists suspect that the femur he found actually belonged to a different individual, of much recent origin.

Second, the fact that Dubois hid his discovery and refused to share it with the rest of the community brought up speculation that Catholic Church pressured Dubois from revealing the findings to the rest of the world.

Next, when the Peking Men and other similar specimens were found that resembled Java Man, Dubois tried to devalue those findings in favor of the Java Men, claiming the uniqueness of Java Men. He started to emphasize the ape characteristics of Java Men, in contrast to human characteristics of other fossils. His later writings clearly show turn to that side. However, this created a controversy after his death, many claiming that Dubois changed his stance on Java Men, admitting that it was just a giant ape.

And finally, the controversy that lasted longest, is the conflict between creationists and evolutionists, in which both sides use Dubois’ discoveries to support their arguments. Evolutionists clearly see Java Men as a “missing link”, or at best, a step in evolutionary development of man. Creationists, on the other side, dispute Dubois findings, seeing Dubois to fabricate the evidence to fit Darwin’s theory of evolution. Hiding the bones; additional fossils of Wadjak men (that do not fit Dubois’ theory) that were supposedly found but never acknowledged, are some of the premises creationists use in their arguments.

Legacy

Eugene Dubois was a highly dedicated and driven scientist, determined to find the missing evolutionary link between apes and humans. He ignored the pleas from his family and friends not to leave the security of his job and conformity of his country, and embarked onto, what one might see, a search for a golden egg. His obsession to find a missing link led Dubois to Java, and finally to one of the greatest events in the 19th century paleoanthropology – the discovery of Pithecanthropus erectus. However, instead of fame, this find brought him only trouble. Dubois spent the rest of his life in defending his position. It was only later that Pithecanthropus erectus was classified as Homo erectus – the first human ancestor that was able to use complex tools, hunt, make fire, and care for the sick. Dubois’ name was finally recognized in world academia.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Gould S.J. (1994). Eight little piggies: Reflections in Natural History. New York: W.W.Norton. ISBN 0393311392
  • Michon, Scott, (2005). Biography - Dubois’ biography
  • Shipman Pat. (2001). The man who found the missing link: The extraordinary life of Eugene Dubois. Diane Publishing Co. ISBN 075679160X

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