Simpson, George Gaylord

From New World Encyclopedia
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{{epname|Simpson, George Gaylord}}
 
{{epname|Simpson, George Gaylord}}
'''George Gaylord Simpson''' (June 16, 1902 – October 6, 1984) was an [[United States|American]] [[paleontologist]]. He was an expert on [[extinct]] [[mammal]]s and their intercontinental migrations. Simpson was the most influential paleontologist of the [[twentieth century]] and a major participant in the [[modern evolutionary synthesis|Modern synthesis]], contributing ''[[Tempo and Mode in Evolution]]'' (1944) and ''[[Principles of Classification and a Classification of Mammals]]'' (1945). Among other things, he is notable for anticipating such concepts as [[punctuated equilibrium]] (in his 1944 work, see [[quantum evolution]]), and dispelling the myth that the [[evolution of the horse]] was a linear process culminating in the modern ''[[Equus caballus]]''.
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'''George Gaylord Simpson''' (June 16, 1902 – October 6, 1984) was one the most influential paleontologist of the twentieth century and a major figure in the [[modern evolutionary synthesis]], helping to integrate [[paleontology]] into this newly emerging synthetic theory. His works ''Tempo and Mode in Evolution'' (1944) and ''Principles of Classification and a Classification of Mammals'' (1945) were particularly instrumental in this respect.
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An expert on [[extinct]] [[mammal]]s and their intercontinent migrations, Simpson also is noted for dispelling the view that the [[evolution of the horse]] was a linear process culminating in the modern ''[[Equus caballus]]'' and for anticipating such concepts as [[punctuated equilibrium]].  
  
 
One of Simpson's famous quotes is "Man is the result of a purposeless and natural process that did not have him in mind." There is nothing in the science that proves this point definitively. This is really a reflection of "dogma" or a type of "religious view" to which Simpson adheres and is so common in science. In reality, while there is a lot of evidence for descent with modification (the pattern of evolution), the process of evolution (natural selection) on the macroevolutionary level remains an extrapolation from process on the microevolutionary levels. Simpson's adherence represents a "belief" rather than based on hard science.
 
One of Simpson's famous quotes is "Man is the result of a purposeless and natural process that did not have him in mind." There is nothing in the science that proves this point definitively. This is really a reflection of "dogma" or a type of "religious view" to which Simpson adheres and is so common in science. In reality, while there is a lot of evidence for descent with modification (the pattern of evolution), the process of evolution (natural selection) on the macroevolutionary level remains an extrapolation from process on the microevolutionary levels. Simpson's adherence represents a "belief" rather than based on hard science.
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[[Image:Horseevolution.png|250px|thumb|right|300px|Reconstruction, left forefoot skeleton (third digit emphasized yellow) and [[longitudinal section]] of [[molar]]s of selected prehistoric horses]]
 
[[Image:Horseevolution.png|250px|thumb|right|300px|Reconstruction, left forefoot skeleton (third digit emphasized yellow) and [[longitudinal section]] of [[molar]]s of selected prehistoric horses]]
George Gaylord Simpson born at 9:15 a.m. on June 16, 1902 in Chicago, south of the Midway, to Joseph A. and Helen J. Simpson, their third child and first son. While still an infant the family moves briefly to Wyoming where his lawyer father is engaged in land speculation.
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George Gaylord Simpson was in Chicago on June 16, 1902, the first son and third and last child of Joseph A. Simpson, a lawyer, and Helen J. (Kinney) Simpson (Laporte 2007b, 2007c). His father handled railroad claims as an attorney, but became involved in land speculation and mining, which led to there moving briefly to Wyoming and then in 1903 to Denver (Laporte 2007b). Simpson had a strict, fundamental Presbyterian upbring, but was to reject formal religion by the early teens (Laporte 2007b).  
  
In 1903, George and his two sisters, Peg and Martha, and parents move to Denver. In the fall of 1911, Simpson starts school in Piedmont, Calif., where family considers settling, but return to Denver. In 1914, Simpson spends the first of two summers on Aunt Lil and Uncle Charlie Baldwin's farm in Blantyre, N.C., near Asheville. He graduates from elementary school at age 11, having completed 8 grades in 6 years, and enters East Denver Latin High School. In 1918 he graduates from high school; his yearbook picture is captioned "Knowledge is more than equivalent to force," presumably contrasting his mental stature (large) to his physical size (small). He participates in the senior play and the Forum Debating Society. The high school was relatively large, with 49 faculty and more than 1000 students—263 in his senior class. After a second summer at the mine, he enters the Univ. of Colorado at Boulder, spends several months in the Student Training Corps, and is hospitalized with Spanish Influenza from which he recovers. In 1919, after the end of his freshman at the university, Simpson's father loses the mine and the "family finances at lowest ebb ever." Simpson drops out of college and works briefly for his uncle in Chicago, then as errand boy at the Chicago Board of Trade. He moves on to the advertising dept. of the Cable Piano Co. and ushers at night at the opera. Later, he takes off for New Orleans with many detours on the way, eventually reaching the city by the following June. "Stayed for a while at Sam Crosby's place in Port Arthur, Texas, and worked for a canal-lock keeper."
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In 1910, he talked his parents into the purchase of the eleventh edition of the ''Encyclopedia Britannica'', which he contributed to the purchase of, and he read it straight through (Laporte 2007b, 2007c). He graduated from elementary school in 1914 at the age of 11, having completed 8 grades in 6 years, and graduated high school in 1918, close to his sixteenth birthday.  
  
In 1922, transfers to Yale because his geology instructor, Arthur Tieje, tells him that that is the best place to study geology and paleontology. In 1923, contrary to Yale"s regulations, Simpson secretly marries Lydia Pedroja, from Buffalo, Kansas, on 2 Feb. 1923. To meet Yale graduation requirements, he goes to France for the summer with Lydia to learn French. He starts Yale graduate school in September on a Dana Fellowship. Daughter Helen is born on 22 December in New Haven. (Anne Roe, his future second wife, receives her B.A. from Denver University.)
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In 1918, at the age of 16, Simpson entered the University of Colorado at Boulder, but his Father lost his mine in Alma, Colorado, and with the family finances at a low point, he briefly drops out (Laporte 2007b). After returning to the University of Colorado, he stays until his senior year, 1922, when he transfers to Yale because he is advised it is the best place to study geology and paleontology. In 1923, he secretly marries Lydia Pedroja, despite it being contrary to Yale's regulations. In June, 1926, he completes his Ph.D. in geology in Yale.  
  
In March, 1925 Simpson's first two abstracts are published in Geological Society of America Bulletin on triconodonts and on the Santa Fé Fm. He spends the summer at Yale's Peabody Museum working on his thesis. In August his first published article, on American triconodonts, appears in August in the American Journal of Science. In December, Simpson gives his first formal talks at the New Haven meeting of Geological Society of America and the Paleontological Society. Simpson reestablishes friendship with Denver childhood playmate, Anne Roe, who receives her M.A. in psychology from Denver University and enters Columbia University in the fall.
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In 1927, Simpson takes a position as assistant curator in vertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History and in 1928 is promoted to associate curator. By 1932, Simpson is formally separated form Lydia and has custody of one daughter, Helen, while one daughter lives with maternal grandmother, and his two other daughters with Lydia are under the custody of Lydia. However, in late 1932, Lydia is committed to a mental hospital and Simpson parents care for these two daughters. Lydia had had a history of mental problems even before meeting Simpson (Laporte 2007b). In 1932, Simpson begins to live with Anne Roe, a childhood friend, who also had obtained a Ph.D., from Columbia University in psychology, and had divorced her husband in 1932. Simpson would gain a divorce from Lydia in April 1938 and marry Anne a month later (Laporte 2007b).  
  
Simpson awarded his Ph.D. in geology from Yale in June, 1926. His second daughter Patricia Gaylord ("Gay") is born on 6 July in New Haven. Simpson receives fellowships from the National Research Council and the International Education Board for post-doctoral research on British and European Mesozoic mammals at the British Museum (Natural History) in London. In October sails for England with wife and two infant daughters. Lydia, however, prefers sunny southern France to dreary London and takes off for Grasse. Simpson now supporting two households on his fellowships. Simpson divides Christmas holidays with Lydia in Grasse and his artist sister Martha in Les Arcs, southern France. Daughter Joan conceived during Christmas conjugal visit.
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In 1942, Simpson becomes the first elected President of Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. In 1942, after the Director of the American Museum of Natural History disbands the department of vertebrate paleontology to Simpson's dismay, he is promoted to curator of fossil mammals, but in December of that year he starts duty with the U.S. Army as a captain in military intelligence—after completing a six-week course in one week (Laporte 2007c). In August  1944, slowly recovering from hepatitis infection, Major Simpson is released from duty with two Bronze Stars. The same year, the Simpson becomes the chairman of the newly created Department of Geology and Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History, and in 1945 he also takes a position as professor of vertebrate paleontology in the department of zoology at Columbia University.
  
In 1928, Simpson promoted to associate curator of vertebrate paleontology. In spring, a pregnant Lydia takes off once more, this time for California. Separation between husband and wife now almost continuous thereafter. Their fourth daughter Elizabeth is born on 20 December. Lydia and babies living for a time within the anthropological ménage of Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead.
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Simpson's classic work, ''Tempo and Mode in Evolution'', is published in 1944. In this work, he integrates paleontology within the modern evolutionary synthesis (Hull 1988). In 1949 he published a popular account of modern evolutionary theory from the point of view of paleontology, ''
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The Meaning of Evolution'', which was to become widely sold and translated into ten languages.
  
In February, 1932  GGS formally separated from Lydia and has custody of Helen (age 9); second daughter, Patricia Gaylord—"Gay" (6)—lives with maternal grandmother in Kansas; and Lydia retains custody of two youngest daughters, Joan (5) and Elizabeth (4). In late '32, Lydia committed to mental hospital and GGS's parents care for Joan and Elizabeth.  
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Simpson was Professor of [[zoology]] at [[Columbia University]] and [[curator]] of the Department of [[Geology]] and Paleontology at the [[American Museum of Natural History]] from 1945 to 1959. In 1958 he gave up chairmanship of the Department and resigned shortly thereafter from the American Museum, taking an appointment as professor at the Museum of Comparative Zoology of Harvard University. He was curator of the [[Museum of Comparative Zoology]] at [[Harvard University]] from 1959 to 1970.
 
Simpson's classic work, ''Tempo and Mode in Evolution'', was published in 1944. In this work he inttegrated paleontology within the newly emerging synthetic theory (Hull 1988).
 
  
Simpson was Professor of [[zoology]] at [[Columbia University]] and [[curator]] of the Department of [[Geology]] and Paleontology at the [[American Museum of Natural History]] from 1945 to 1959. He was curator of the [[Museum of Comparative Zoology]] at [[Harvard University]] from 1959 to 1970.
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In 1963, when Anne is made a professor at Harvard University, Simpson and his wife become the first husband-wife couple to be full professors at Harvard (Laporte 2007c).  
  
In 1984, GGS's last book, "Discoverers of the Lost World," is published. Like his first, "Attending Marvels," it is about South America. Anne and GGS take another South Seas cruise during which GGS catches pneumonia, and in the summer he is in the hospital on and off with various resulting complications. On Saturday, 6 October, GGS dies of heart failure in Tucson hospital. His body is cremated and ashes dispersed in the desert outside Tucson. A memorial for him takes places at the University of Arizona in late October. During this last year of his life, he was working on a manuscript on extinction that was posthumously published the following year.
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In 1968, Simpson is appointed professor geosciences at the University of Arizona, from which he will retire only in 1982, at the age of 80. He continues part-time with the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard until 1970 as well.  
  
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In 1984, Simpson's final book, "Discoverers of the Lost World," is published, which, like his first, "Attending Marvels," is about South America. On Saturday, October 6, Simpson dies of heart failure in a Tuscon hospital. A manuscript he was working on, dealing with extinction, is posthumously published the next year.
 
==Quotes==
 
==Quotes==
 
{{cquote|Man is the result of a purposeless and natural process that did not have him in mind. (Simpson 1967, p. 345).}}
 
{{cquote|Man is the result of a purposeless and natural process that did not have him in mind. (Simpson 1967, p. 345).}}
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* Gould, S. J. 2007. [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/people/george_simpson.html George Gaylord Simpson]. ''The Stephen Jay Gould Archive''. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
 
* Gould, S. J. 2007. [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/people/george_simpson.html George Gaylord Simpson]. ''The Stephen Jay Gould Archive''. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
 
* Hull, D. L. 1988. ''Science as a Process: An Evolutionary Account of the Social and Conceptual Development of Science''. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
 
* Hull, D. L. 1988. ''Science as a Process: An Evolutionary Account of the Social and Conceptual Development of Science''. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
* Laporte, L. F. 2007. [http://people.ucsc.edu/~laporte/simpson/Index.html George Gaylord Simpson]. ''UCSC''. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
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* Laporte, L. F. 2007a. [http://people.ucsc.edu/~laporte/simpson/Introduction.html George Gaylord Simpson: Introduction]. ''UC Santa Cruz: Information Technology Services''. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
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* Laporte, L. F. 2007b. [http://people.ucsc.edu/~laporte/simpson/Biography.html George Gaylord Simpson: Biography]. ''UC Santa Cruz: Information Technology Services''. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
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* Laporte, L. F. 2007c. [http://people.ucsc.edu/~laporte/simpson/Chronology.html George Gaylord Simpson: Chronology]. ''UC Santa Cruz: Information Technology Services''. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
 
* Larson, E. J. 2004. ''Evolution''. Modern Library. ISBN 0679642889.
 
* Larson, E. J. 2004. ''Evolution''. Modern Library. ISBN 0679642889.
 
* Public Broadcasting Service. 2007. [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/06/2/l_062_02.html George Gaylord Simpson]]. ''PBS''. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
 
* Public Broadcasting Service. 2007. [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/06/2/l_062_02.html George Gaylord Simpson]]. ''PBS''. Retrieved December 22, 2007.

Revision as of 23:51, 24 December 2007

George Gaylord Simpson (June 16, 1902 – October 6, 1984) was one the most influential paleontologist of the twentieth century and a major figure in the modern evolutionary synthesis, helping to integrate paleontology into this newly emerging synthetic theory. His works Tempo and Mode in Evolution (1944) and Principles of Classification and a Classification of Mammals (1945) were particularly instrumental in this respect.

An expert on extinct mammals and their intercontinent migrations, Simpson also is noted for dispelling the view that the evolution of the horse was a linear process culminating in the modern Equus caballus and for anticipating such concepts as punctuated equilibrium.

One of Simpson's famous quotes is "Man is the result of a purposeless and natural process that did not have him in mind." There is nothing in the science that proves this point definitively. This is really a reflection of "dogma" or a type of "religious view" to which Simpson adheres and is so common in science. In reality, while there is a lot of evidence for descent with modification (the pattern of evolution), the process of evolution (natural selection) on the macroevolutionary level remains an extrapolation from process on the microevolutionary levels. Simpson's adherence represents a "belief" rather than based on hard science.

Biography

Reconstruction, left forefoot skeleton (third digit emphasized yellow) and longitudinal section of molars of selected prehistoric horses

George Gaylord Simpson was in Chicago on June 16, 1902, the first son and third and last child of Joseph A. Simpson, a lawyer, and Helen J. (Kinney) Simpson (Laporte 2007b, 2007c). His father handled railroad claims as an attorney, but became involved in land speculation and mining, which led to there moving briefly to Wyoming and then in 1903 to Denver (Laporte 2007b). Simpson had a strict, fundamental Presbyterian upbring, but was to reject formal religion by the early teens (Laporte 2007b).

In 1910, he talked his parents into the purchase of the eleventh edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, which he contributed to the purchase of, and he read it straight through (Laporte 2007b, 2007c). He graduated from elementary school in 1914 at the age of 11, having completed 8 grades in 6 years, and graduated high school in 1918, close to his sixteenth birthday.

In 1918, at the age of 16, Simpson entered the University of Colorado at Boulder, but his Father lost his mine in Alma, Colorado, and with the family finances at a low point, he briefly drops out (Laporte 2007b). After returning to the University of Colorado, he stays until his senior year, 1922, when he transfers to Yale because he is advised it is the best place to study geology and paleontology. In 1923, he secretly marries Lydia Pedroja, despite it being contrary to Yale's regulations. In June, 1926, he completes his Ph.D. in geology in Yale.

In 1927, Simpson takes a position as assistant curator in vertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History and in 1928 is promoted to associate curator. By 1932, Simpson is formally separated form Lydia and has custody of one daughter, Helen, while one daughter lives with maternal grandmother, and his two other daughters with Lydia are under the custody of Lydia. However, in late 1932, Lydia is committed to a mental hospital and Simpson parents care for these two daughters. Lydia had had a history of mental problems even before meeting Simpson (Laporte 2007b). In 1932, Simpson begins to live with Anne Roe, a childhood friend, who also had obtained a Ph.D., from Columbia University in psychology, and had divorced her husband in 1932. Simpson would gain a divorce from Lydia in April 1938 and marry Anne a month later (Laporte 2007b).

In 1942, Simpson becomes the first elected President of Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. In 1942, after the Director of the American Museum of Natural History disbands the department of vertebrate paleontology to Simpson's dismay, he is promoted to curator of fossil mammals, but in December of that year he starts duty with the U.S. Army as a captain in military intelligence—after completing a six-week course in one week (Laporte 2007c). In August 1944, slowly recovering from hepatitis infection, Major Simpson is released from duty with two Bronze Stars. The same year, the Simpson becomes the chairman of the newly created Department of Geology and Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History, and in 1945 he also takes a position as professor of vertebrate paleontology in the department of zoology at Columbia University.

Simpson's classic work, Tempo and Mode in Evolution, is published in 1944. In this work, he integrates paleontology within the modern evolutionary synthesis (Hull 1988). In 1949 he published a popular account of modern evolutionary theory from the point of view of paleontology, The Meaning of Evolution, which was to become widely sold and translated into ten languages.

Simpson was Professor of zoology at Columbia University and curator of the Department of Geology and Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History from 1945 to 1959. In 1958 he gave up chairmanship of the Department and resigned shortly thereafter from the American Museum, taking an appointment as professor at the Museum of Comparative Zoology of Harvard University. He was curator of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University from 1959 to 1970.

In 1963, when Anne is made a professor at Harvard University, Simpson and his wife become the first husband-wife couple to be full professors at Harvard (Laporte 2007c).

In 1968, Simpson is appointed professor geosciences at the University of Arizona, from which he will retire only in 1982, at the age of 80. He continues part-time with the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard until 1970 as well.

In 1984, Simpson's final book, "Discoverers of the Lost World," is published, which, like his first, "Attending Marvels," is about South America. On Saturday, October 6, Simpson dies of heart failure in a Tuscon hospital. A manuscript he was working on, dealing with extinction, is posthumously published the next year.

Quotes

Man is the result of a purposeless and natural process that did not have him in mind. (Simpson 1967, p. 345).
I don't think that evolution is supremely important because it is my specialty; it is my specialty because I think it is supremely important. (Larson 2004) </ref>
The regular absence of transitional forms is not confined to mammals, but is an almost universal phenomenon, as has long been noted by paleontologists."

Books

  • Attending Marvels (1931)
  • Mammals and Land Bridges (1940)
  • Tempo and Mode in Evolution (1944)
  • The Meaning of Evolution (1949)
  • Horses (1951)
  • Evolution and Geography (1953)
  • The Major Features of Evolution (1953)
  • Life: An Introduction to Biology (1957)
  • Principles of Animal Taxonomy (1961)
  • This View of Life (1964)
  • The Geography of Evolution (1965)
  • Penguins (1976)
  • Concession to the Improbable (1978)
  • Splendid Isolation (1980)
  • The Dechronization of Sam Magruder (posthumously published novella, 1996)


References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Gould, S. J. 2002. The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
  • Gould, S. J. 2007. George Gaylord Simpson. The Stephen Jay Gould Archive. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
  • Hull, D. L. 1988. Science as a Process: An Evolutionary Account of the Social and Conceptual Development of Science. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
  • Laporte, L. F. 2007a. George Gaylord Simpson: Introduction. UC Santa Cruz: Information Technology Services. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
  • Laporte, L. F. 2007b. George Gaylord Simpson: Biography. UC Santa Cruz: Information Technology Services. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
  • Laporte, L. F. 2007c. George Gaylord Simpson: Chronology. UC Santa Cruz: Information Technology Services. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
  • Larson, E. J. 2004. Evolution. Modern Library. ISBN 0679642889.
  • Public Broadcasting Service. 2007. George Gaylord Simpson]. PBS. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
  • Simpson, G. G. 1967. The Meaning of Evolution. New Haven: Yale University Press.

External links

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