Stephen Jay Gould ( ; September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002) was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, historian of science, and one of the most widely read authors of popular science of his generation. Gould spent most of his career teaching at Harvard University and working at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. In 1996, Gould was hired as the Vincent Astor Visiting Research Professor of Biology at New York University, after which he divided his time teaching between there and Harvard.
Gould's most significant contribution to his field was the theory of punctuated equilibrium developed with Niles Eldredge in 1972.Eldredge, Niles, and S. J. Gould (1972). "Punctuated equilibria: an alternative to phyletic gradualism." In T.J.M. Schopf, ed., Models in Paleobiology. San Francisco: Freeman, Cooper and Company, pp. 82–115. The theory proposes that most evolution is characterized by long periods of evolutionary stability, infrequently punctuated by swift periods of branching speciation. The theory was contrasted against phyletic gradualism, the popular idea that evolutionary change is marked by a pattern of smooth and continuous change in the fossil record.
Most of Gould's empirical research was based on the land snail genera Poecilozonites and Cerion. He also made important contributions to evolutionary developmental biology, receiving broad professional recognition for his book Ontogeny and Phylogeny. In evolutionary theory he opposed the overemphasis placed on natural selection, and was critical of biological determinist theories of human behavior in sociobiology and evolutionary psychology. As a public advocate for science he campaigned against creationism and proposed that science and religion should be considered two distinct fields (or "non-overlapping magisteria") whose authorities do not overlap.Gould, S. J. (1997). "Nonoverlapping magisteria." Natural History 106 (March): 16–22.
Gould was known by the general public mainly for his 300 popular essays in Natural History magazine, and his numerous books written for both the specialist and non-specialist. In April 2000, the US Library of Congress named him a "Living Legend".
Biography
Stephen Jay Gould was born in Queens, New York, on September 10, 1941. His father Leonard was a court stenographer and a World War II veteran of the United States Navy. His mother Eleanor was an artist, whose parents were Jewish immigrants living and working in the city's Garment District. Gould and his younger brother Peter were raised in Bayside, a middle-class neighborhood in the northeastern section of Queens. He attended P.S. 26 elementary school and graduated from Jamaica High School.
When Gould was five years old his father took him to the Hall of Dinosaurs in the American Museum of Natural History, where he first encountered Tyrannosaurus rex. "I had no idea there were such things—I was awestruck," Gould once recalled.Green, Michelle (1986). "Stephen Jay Gould: driven by a hunger to learn and to write". People 25 (June 2): 109–114. It was in that moment that he decided to become a paleontologist.Milner, Richard (1990). The Encyclopedia of Evolution. NY: Facts on File, p. 198.
Raised in a secular Jewish home, Gould did not formally practice religion and preferred to be called an agnostic.In a January 25, 2001 interview for BBC Radio 4 Gould stated, "Atheists can be highly moral people, I trust. I am myself." (27m:37s); Biologist Jerry Coyne—who had Gould on his thesis committee—described him as a "diehard atheist if there ever was one." (Sam Harris 2015. "Faith vs. Fact: An Interview with Jerry Coyne." May 19. [12m:22s] samharris.org.) Gould's close friend Oliver Sacks labeled Gould a "Jewish atheist". (Oliver Sacks 2006. "Introduction." The Richness of Life. W. W. Norton, p. 8.) When asked directly if he was an agnostic in Skeptic magazine, he responded:
Though he "had been brought up by a Marxist father",Gould, S. J. (1995). "The Pattern of Life's History." In John Brockman (ed.) The Third Culture . New York: Simon & Schuster, p. 60. he stated that his father's politics were "very different" from his own.Gould, S. J. (2002). The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, p. 1018. In describing his own political views, he has said they "tend to the left of center".Gould, S. J. (1981). (Nov. 27). Under oath Gould stated: "My political views tend to the left of center. Q. Could you be more specific about your political views? A. I don't know how to be. I am not a joiner, so I am not a member of any organization. So I have always resisted labeling. But if you read my other book, The Mismeasure of Man, which is not included because it is not about evolution, you will get a sense of my political views." p. 153. According to Gould the most influential political books he read were C. Wright Mills's The Power Elite and the political writings of Noam Chomsky.
While attending Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, in the early 1960s, Gould was active in the civil rights movement and often campaigned for social justice. When he attended the University of Leeds as a visiting undergraduate, he organized weekly demonstrations outside a Bradford dance hall which refused to admit black people. Gould continued these demonstrations until the policy was revoked.Gasper, Phil (2002). "Stephen Jay Gould: Dialectical Biologist". International Socialist Review 24 (July–August). Throughout his career and writings, he spoke out against cultural oppression in all its forms, especially what he saw as the pseudoscience used in the service of racism and sexism.Lewontin, Richard and Richard Levins (2002). "Stephen Jay Gould—what does it mean to be a radical?" Monthly Review 54 (Nov. 1).
Interspersed throughout his scientific essays for Natural History, Gould frequently referred to his non-scientific interests and pastimes. As a boy he collected baseball cards and remained an avid New York Yankees fan throughout his life.Gould, S. J. (2003). Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville. New York: W. W. Norton & Co. See his essays: "The Streak of Streaks." As an adult he was fond of science fiction movies but often lamented their poor storytelling and presentation of science.Gould, S. J. (1993). "Dinomania". New York Review of Books 40 (August 12): 51–56. His other interests included singing baritone in the Boston Cecilia, and he was a great aficionado of Gilbert and Sullivan operas. He collected rare antiquarian books, possessed an enthusiasm for architecture, and delighted in city walks. He often traveled to Europe and spoke French, German, Russian, and Italian. He sometimes alluded ruefully to his tendency to put on weight.Gould, S. J. (1983). Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. . His New York Times obituary refers to him as a "student of classical music and astronomy and countless other eclectia".
Personal life Gould married artist Deborah Lee on October 3, 1965. Gould met Lee while they were students together at Antioch College. They had two sons, Jesse and Ethan, and were married for 30 years.Golden, Frederic (1996) "A Kinder, Gentler Stephen Jay Gould" Los Angeles Times Oct 8. His second marriage in 1995 was to artist and sculptor Rhonda Roland Shearer, to whom he was married until his death.
First bout of cancer In July 1982 Gould was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer affecting the abdominal lining (the peritoneum). This cancer is frequently found in people who have ingested or inhaled asbestos fibers, a mineral which was used in the construction of Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology.Rose, Steve (2002). Obituary: Stephen Jay Gould. The Guardian May 22.Titus, Janet (1983). "Safety Precautions for Asbestos Taken at MCZ." The Harvard Crimson January 24. After a difficult two-year recovery, Gould published a column for Discover magazine in 1985 titled "The Median Isn't the Message", which discusses his reaction to reading that "mesothelioma is incurable, with a median mortality of only eight months after discovery."Gould, S. J. (1985). "The Median Isn't the Message". Discover 6 (June): 40–42. In his essay, he describes the actual significance behind this fact, and his relief upon recognizing that statistical averages are useful abstractions, and by themselves do not encompass "our actual world of variation, shadings, and continua".
Gould was also an advocate of medical cannabis. When undergoing his cancer treatments he smoked marijuana to help alleviate the long periods of intense and uncontrollable nausea. According to Gould, the drug had a "most important effect" on his eventual recovery. He later complained that he could not understand how "any humane person would withhold such a beneficial substance from people in such great need simply because others use it for different purposes".Bakalar, James and Lester Grinspoon (1997). Marihuana, the Forbidden Medicine. New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 39–41. On August 5, 1998, Gould's testimony assisted in the successful lawsuit of HIV activist Jim Wakeford, who sued the Government of Canada for the right to cultivate, possess, and use marijuana for medical purposes.Chwialkowska, Luiza (1995). "Marijuana Helped to Save My Life, Prominent Harvard Scholar Says" Ottawa Citizen.
Final illness and death In February 2002, a lesion was found on Gould's chest radiograph, and oncologists diagnosed him with stage IV cancer. Gould died ten weeks later on May 20, 2002, from a metastatic adenocarcinoma of the lung, an aggressive form of cancer which had already spread to his brain, liver, and spleen.Harvard News Office (2002). "Paleontologist, author Gould dies at 60". The Harvard Gazette. (May 20). Retrieved on June 4, 2009. This cancer was unrelated to his previous bout of abdominal cancer in 1982,Associated Press (2005). "Family of Stephen Jay Gould sues doctors, hospital." though it is also associated with asbestos exposure. He died in his home "in a bed set up in the library of his SoHo loft, surrounded by his wife Rhonda, his mother Eleanor, and the many books he loved".Krementz, Jill (2002). "Jill Krementz Photo Journal". New York Social Diary. Retrieved on June 4, 2009.
Scientific career Gould began his higher education at Antioch College, graduating with a double major in geology and philosophy in 1963.Allen, Warren (2008). In Warren Allen et al. Stephen Jay Gould: Reflections on His View of Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 24, 59. During this time, he also studied at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.Jones, Steve (2002). "Stephen Jay Gould." The Guardian (May 22). After completing graduate work at Columbia University in 1967 under the guidance of Norman Newell, he was immediately hired by Harvard University, where he worked until the end of his life (1967–2002). In 1973, Harvard promoted him to professor of geology and curator of invertebrate paleontology at the institution's Museum of Comparative Zoology.
In 1982, Harvard awarded him the title of Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology. That same year, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 1983, he was awarded a fellowship at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, where he later served as president (1999–2001). The AAAS news release cited his "numerous contributions to both scientific progress and the public understanding of science".Cooper, E. and D. Amber (1997). "Stephen Jay Gould Voted President-Elect of AAAS." AAAS News. He also served as president of the Paleontological Society (1985–1986) and of the Society for the Study of Evolution (1990–1991).