Stanley Marion Garn

Stanley Marion Garn Ph.D. (Oct. 27, 1922 to Aug 31, 2007) was a professor of physical anthropology. He was a professor of anthropology at the College for Literature, Science and Arts and a Professor of Nutrition at the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. [University of Michigan. The Center for Human Growth and Development. "Stanley M. Garn. Ph.D." August 23, 2006. .] He joined the University of Michigan in 1968. [The University Record. Symposium honors Stanley Garn. 1992. August 23, 2006. .]

Work

Garn theorizes that an ancient species of early hominid killed a mentally inferior humanoid species in China and Java due to their greater intelligence. Garn determined from skull size, symphysis size and tooth thickness that in China and Java the more intelligent hominid "Sinanthropus Pithencanthropus" killed off the lesser evolved Neanderthal species. He emphasized that the physical differences in the remains of these two species should be acknowledged in determining their social behavior. [Garn, Stanley. Culture and the Direction of Human Evolution. Ambassador Books, Toronto, Canada, 1962.]

Garn has also done research on the effects of obesity and bone problems. In relation to his study on obesity, he studied over-nutrition and under-nutrition, human fat over the course of the human life cycle and the correlation between growth rate in infants and their later fat amounts. He concluded that genetics forms a major component in determining a person's tendency for obesity, but socio-economic factors are also significant. Based on his study on age and cholesterol, he concluded that people between the ages of thirty and fifty have their serum cholesterol rise which contributes to an increase risk for coronary artery disease. [Menard M. Gertler M.D., Stanley Marion Garn M.D., E. F. Bland M.D. American Heart Association. Age, Serum Cholesterol and Coronary Artery Disease. 1950. August 23, 2006. . ] In relation to bone problems, he studied skeletal development, skeletal loss, odontogenesis and dysmorphogenesis. His hypothesis was that dietary differences contribute to bone loss among individuals. [University of Michigan. The Center for Human Growth and Development. "Stanley M. Garn. Ph.D." August 23, 2006..]

Stanley M. Garn died of complications from peripheral vascular disease on August 31, 2007 in Ann Arbor Michigan. [http://www.umich.edu/~urecord/0708/Sept17_07/obits.shtml]

Race

In 1968 Garn joined a team of genetic anthropologists to study the racial differences of ancient populations. He focused less on cranio-facial data and more on genetic data in this study. His work looked at the amount of genes within populations to determine their racial make up. This work did not assume distinct racial forms but considered gradations of specific genes between populations. [Garn, Stanley. Readings on Race. Charles Thomas. Springfield, IL. 1968.]

Garn considered racial classification based on physical traits to be imprecise. He considered each physical trait to be independent of each other, making classification by the assumption that a population shares certain traits incorrect. Furthermore, he was critical about racial classifications based on physical type which seemingly elevated some physical traits to a racial status, but glossed over others. He concluded that racial classifications based on physical type can always be compartmentalized into smaller populations which share more physical traits in common. He used three gradations of racial classification which were increasingly more specific in scope: geographical, local and micro. [Garn, Stanley. Human Races. Charles Thomas. Springfield, IL. 1965. ] He counted thirty-four local races in the world which were caused by genetic isolation. He believed the genetic isolation among Pacific Islanders made them form three separate races which were Micronesian, Polynesian and Melanesian. [Bindon, Jim. University of Alabama. Department of Anthropology. August 23, 2006. .]

Regarding "geographical races", Garn said, "A collection of race populations, separated from other such collections by major geographical barriers."Jurmain, Robert. Introduction to Physical Anthropology Sixth Edition West Publishing Company: USA, 1994. ISBN 0-314-02778-5 p.114] Regarding "local races", Garn said, "A breeding population adapted to local selection pressures and maintained by either natural or social barriers to gene interchange." Regarding "micro-races", Garn said, "marriage or mating , is a mathematical function of distance. With millions of potential mates, the male ordinarily chooses one near at hand."

References