Edmund Ware Sinnott (February 5, 1888–January 6, 1968) was an American

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. Sinnott is best known for his work in

plant morphology Phytomorphology is the study of the physical form and external structure of plants.Raven, P. H., R. F. Evert, & S. E. Eichhorn. ''Biology of Plants'', 7th ed., page 9. (New York: W. H. Freeman, 2005). . This is usually considered distinct from pl ...

Career

Sinnott received his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(1908),

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(1910), and

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(1913), all from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. During his freshman year of college, he lived in Stoughton Hall. Sinnott studied in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

with Arthur Johnson Eames from 1910 to 1911. Upon graduation, he became an instructor at Harvard, and worked with I. W. Bailey, the anatomist. From 1915 to 1928, he was at the Connecticut Agricultural College at Storrs, becoming Professor of

Botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

Genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

. From 1928 to 1939, he was Professor of Botany at

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

, where he helped refurbish the Arthur Ross Greenhouse, and chair of the Botany Department at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

(1939-1940). In 1940, he moved to

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

to become

Sterling Professor Sterling Professor, the highest academic rank at Yale University, is awarded to a Academic tenure in North America, tenured faculty member considered the best in their field. It is akin to the rank of distinguished professor at other universities. ...

of Botany, chair of the Botany Department (1940-1956), director of the Marsh Botanical Garden (1940-1950), dean of the

Graduate School Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachel ...

(1950-1956) and director of

Sheffield Scientific School Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale University, Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Jos ...

(1945-1956). He was also made editor of the

American Journal of Botany The ''American Journal of Botany'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal which covers all aspects of plant biology. It has been published by the Botanical Society of America since 1914. The journal has an impact factor of 3.038, as of 20 ...

, member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

, member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

, and president of the Botanical Society of America, the

American Society of Naturalists The American Society of Naturalists (ASN) was founded in 1883 and is one of the oldest professional societies dedicated to the biological sciences in North America. The purpose of the Society is "to advance and diffuse knowledge of organic evoluti ...

and the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

. He was the co-author of the textbook ''Principles of Genetics'' (1925) which received positive reviews. Throughout his life, Sinnott was a prolific author; he wrote ninety scientific articles and many textbooks. Sinnott contributed to the field of Colonial and early American Architecture with his book ''Meetinghouse & Church in Early New England'' (1963), with photographs by Jerauld Manter. In his teaching, Sinnott stressed the idea of scientific discovery and the importance of making careful measurements and correctly interpreting data. He endeavored to explain the organism as an integrated whole from the sum of its parts, processes and history. He retired in 1956 and died in New Haven in 1968.

Philosophy

Sinnott was a proponent of

organicism Organicism is the philosophical position that states that the universe and its various parts (including human societies) ought to be considered alive and naturally ordered, much like a living organism.Gilbert, S. F., and S. Sarkar. 2000. "Emb ...

and a critic of

reductionism Reductionism is any of several related philosophical ideas regarding the associations between phenomena which can be described in terms of simpler or more fundamental phenomena. It is also described as an intellectual and philosophical positi ...

. He held that view that

life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

is goal directed and purposive. In his book ''Biology of Spirit'' (1955) he used the term ''Telism'' which he defined as "the philosophy of goals-a belief that what is important is not the push and drive of a living system but the drawing power of a goal, conscious or unconscious, that in some is established in it". His philosophy was compared by critics to a form of

vitalism Vitalism is a belief that starts from the premise that "living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities because they contain some non-physical element or are governed by different principles than are inanimate things." Wher ...

.Koch, Leo Francis. (1957). ''Vitalistic-Mechanistic Controversy''. ''

The Scientific Monthly ''The Scientific Monthly'' was a science magazine published from 1915 to 1957. Psychologist James McKeen Cattell, the former publisher and editor of '' The Popular Science Monthly'', was the original founder and editor. In 1958, ''The Scientific M ...

''. Vol. 85, No. 5. pp. 245-255. Others such as

George Gaylord Simpson George Gaylord Simpson (June 16, 1902 – October 6, 1984) was an American paleontologist. Simpson was perhaps the most influential paleontologist of the twentieth century, and a major participant in the modern synthesis, contributing '' Tempo ...

claimed Sinnott was promoting a theological version of

orthogenesis Orthogenesis, also known as orthogenetic evolution, progressive evolution, evolutionary progress, or progressionism, is an Superseded theories in science, obsolete biological hypothesis that organisms have an innate tendency to evolution, evolve ...

. He rejected both

dualism Dualism most commonly refers to: * Mind–body dualism, a philosophical view which holds that mental phenomena are, at least in certain respects, not physical phenomena, or that the mind and the body are distinct and separable from one another * P ...

and materialistic

monism Monism attributes oneness or singleness () to a concept, such as to existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished: * Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., in Neoplatonis ...

for his own philosophy which was described by a reviewer as

idealistic Idealism in philosophy, also known as philosophical realism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality is equivalent to mind, spirit, or consciousness; that reality is entir ...

monism. He argued for the existence of an impersonal God which he described as a purposive organizing agent. He was criticized by Leo Koch for making metaphysical statements in his science books, he stated for example "The Principle of Organization is far more than a scientific concept. It states a belief that there is operating in the universe a something that leads to spirit; something that is spirit." In his book ''Cell and Psyche'' (1950) he argued that mind and matter are two aspects of the same phenomenon and that purpose exists in all organisms as it is built into the

genotype The genotype of an organism is its complete set of genetic material. Genotype can also be used to refer to the alleles or variants an individual carries in a particular gene or genetic location. The number of alleles an individual can have in a ...

and the

protoplasm Protoplasm (; ) is the part of a cell that is surrounded by a plasma membrane. It is a mixture of small molecules such as ions, monosaccharides, amino acids, and macromolecules such as proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, etc. In some definitions ...

.Glass, Bentley. (1952). ''Cell and Psyche: The Biology of Purpose by Edmund W. Sinnott''. ''

The Quarterly Review of Biology ''The Quarterly Review of Biology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of biology. It was established in 1926 by Raymond Pearl. In the 1960s it was purchased by the Stony Brook Foundation when the editor H. Bentley Glass ...

''. Vol. 27, No. 1. p. 62.

Publications

''Botany, Principles and Problems''
(1923, sixth edition in 1963) *''Principles of Genetics'' (1925, third edition in 1934) *''Laboratory Manual for Elementary Botany'' (1927)
''Cell and Psyche''
(1950) *''Two Roads to Truth'' (1953) *''The Biology of the Spirit'' (1955) *''Life and Mind'' (1956) *''Matter, Mind, and Man'' (1957)
''Plant Morphogenesis''
(1960) *''The Bridge of Life: From Matter to Spirit'' (1966)

References

External links

National Academy of Science's Biography
* Edmund Ware Sinnott papers (MS 452). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinnott, Edmund Ware 1888 births 1968 deaths Harvard University alumni American science writers Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences 20th-century American botanists University of Connecticut faculty Barnard College faculty Yale University faculty Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Orthogenesis Theistic evolutionists Yale Sterling Professors Members of the American Philosophical Society Presidents of the American Society of Naturalists