George Gaylord Simpson

Infobox Scientist
name = George Gaylord Simpson
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caption = George Gaylord Simpson
birth_date = June 16, 1902
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death_date = October 6, 1984
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nationality =American
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field = paleontology
work_institutions = Columbia University
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George Gaylord Simpson (June 16, 1902 – October 6, 1984) was an American paleontologist. He was an expert on extinct mammals and their intercontinental migrations. Simpson was the most influential paleontologist of the twentieth century and a major participant in the 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"

He 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 and a Professor of geosciences at the University of Arizona until his retirement in 1982.

Quotes

cquote|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. [Harvard reference
Surname = Larson
Given = Edward J.
Authorlink = Edward J. Larson
Year = 2004
Title = Evolution
Publisher = Modern Library
Pages = 250
ID = ISBN 0-679-64288-9 ]

"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

*Citation
id = PMID:15045833
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15045833
last=Aronson
first=Jay D
publication-date=2002
year=2002
title='Molecules and monkeys': George Gaylord Simpson and the challenge of molecular evolution.
volume=24
issue=3-4
periodical=History and philosophy of the life sciences
pages=441-65
*Citation
id = PMID:11639257
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11639257
last=Laporte
first=L F
publication-date=1994
year=1994
title=Simpson on species.
volume=27
issue=1
periodical=Journal of the history of biology
pages=141-59
*Citation
id = PMID:11616139
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11616139
last=Olson
first=E C
publication-date=1991
year=1991
title=George Gaylord Simpson: June 16, 1902-October 6, 1984.
volume=60
issue=
periodical=Biographical memoirs. National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
pages=331-53
*Citation
id = PMID:2018099
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2018099
last=Laporte
first=L F
publication-date=1991 Jan
year=1991
title=George Gaylord Simpson as mentor and apologist for paleoanthropology.
volume=84
issue=1
periodical=Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.
pages=1-16
doi = 10.1002/ajpa.1330840102
*Citation
id = PMID:11621258
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11621258
last=Whittington
first=H B
publication-date=1986
year=1986
title=George Gaylord Simpson: 16 June 1902-6 October 1984.
volume=32
issue=
periodical=Biographical memoirs of fellows of the Royal Society. Royal Society (Great Britain)
pages=525-39
*Citation
id = PMID:11611330
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11611330
last=Laporte
first=L F
publication-date=1983 Dec 30
year=1983
title=Simpson's Tempo and Mode in Evolution revisited.
volume=127
issue=6
periodical=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society
pages=365-417
*Citation
id = PMID:11615952
url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11615952
last=Gershenowitz
first=H
publication-date=1978
year=1978
title=George Gaylord Simpson and Lamarck.
volume=13
issue=1
periodical=Indian journal of history of science
pages=56-61

External links

* [http://people.ucsc.edu/~laporte/simpson/Index.html George Gaylord Simpson] - full and comprehensive biography by L. F. Laporte
* [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/people/george_simpson.html George Gaylord Simpson] - biographical sketch from The Stephen Jay Gould Archive
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/06/2/l_062_02.html George Gaylord Simpson] - a short biography from the PBS "Evolution" website
* [http://www.amphilsoc.org/library/mole/s/simpson.htm George Gaylord Simpson Papers, American Philosophical Society.]

ee also

*Annie Montague Alexander, who helped finance much of his work