George Gaylord Simpson (June 16, 1902 – October 6, 1984) was an American

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

. Simpson was perhaps the most influential paleontologist of the twentieth century, and a major participant in the modern synthesis, contributing '' Tempo and Mode in Evolution'' (1944), ''The Meaning of Evolution'' (1949) and ''The Major Features of Evolution'' (1953). He was an expert on

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s and their intercontinental migrations. Simpson was extraordinarily knowledgeable about

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

fossil mammals and fossil mammals of North and South America. He anticipated such concepts as

punctuated equilibrium In evolutionary biology, punctuated equilibrium (also called punctuated equilibria) is a Scientific theory, theory that proposes that once a species appears in the fossil record, the population will become stable, showing little evolution, evol ...

(in ''Tempo and Mode'') and dispelled the myth that the

evolution of the horse The evolution of the horse, a mammal of the family Equidae, occurred over a geologic time scale of 50 million years, transforming the small, dog-sized, forest-dwelling '' Eohippus'' into the modern horse. Paleozoologists have been able to piece ...

was a linear process culminating in the modern '' Equus caballus''. He coined the word '' hypodigm'' in 1940, and published extensively on the

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

of fossil and extant mammals. Simpson was influentially, and incorrectly, opposed to Alfred Wegener's theory of

continental drift Continental drift is a highly supported scientific theory, originating in the early 20th century, that Earth's continents move or drift relative to each other over geologic time. The theory of continental drift has since been validated and inc ...

, but accepted the theory of plate tectonics (and continental drift) when the evidence became conclusive. He was Professor of

Zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

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 ...

, and

Curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

of the Department of

Geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

and Paleontology at the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

from 1945 to 1959. He was Curator of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at

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 ...

from 1959 to 1970, and a Professor of

Geoscience Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

s at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

from 1968 until his retirement in 1982.

Awards and honors

Simpson was elected to 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 ...

in 1936 and the United States

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 ...

in 1941. In 1943 Simpson was awarded the Mary Clark Thompson Medal from the

. For his work, ''Tempo and mode in evolution'', he was awarded the academy's Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal in 1944. He was elected to 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 ...

in 1948. He was awarded the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript a ...

's prestigious Darwin-Wallace Medal in 1958. Simpson also received the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

's Darwin Medal 'In recognition of his distinguished contributions to general evolutionary theory, based on a profound study of palaeontology, particularly of vertebrates,' in 1962. In 1966, Simpson received the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

. At the

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, the Gould-Simpson Building was named in honor of Simpson and Minnesota geologist and polar explorer Lawrence M. Gould, who, like Simpson, also accepted an appointment as Professor of Geosciences at the University of Arizona after his formal retirement. Simpson was noted for his work in the fields of paleobiogeography and animal evolution.

Views

In the 1960s, Simpson "rubbished the then-nascent science of exobiology, which concerned itself with life on places other than Earth, as a science without a subject". He was raised as a Christian but in his early teens became an agnostic, nontheist, and philosophical naturalist.

Books

* ''Attending marvels'' (1931)
''Quantitative Zoology''
(1939) * '' Tempo and Mode in Evolution'' (1944) * ''The Principles of Classification and A Classification of Mammals'' (1945)
''The Meaning of Evolution''
(1949, 1951) * ''Horses'' (1951) * ''Evolution and Geography'' (1953) * ''The Major Features of Evolution'' (1953) * ''Life: An Introduction to Biology'' (1957) * ''Quantitative Zoology'' (1960) * ''Principles of Animal Taxonomy'' (1961) * ''This View of Life'' (1964) * ''The Geography of Evolution'' (1965) * ''Penguins'' (1976) * ''Concession to the Improbable'' (1978) (an autobiography) * ''Splendid Isolation'' (1980) * ''The Book of Darwin'' (1983) * ''Fossils and the History Of Life'' (1983) * ''The Dechronization of Sam Magruder'' (posthumously published novella, 1996)

References

External links

George Gaylord Simpson
— full and comprehensive biography by L. F. Laporte

— biographical sketch from The Stephen Jay Gould Archive

— a short biography from the PBS ''Evolution'' website
George Gaylord Simpson Papers, American Philosophical Society.George Gaylord Simpson
— Open Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, George Gaylord 1902 births 1984 deaths Columbia University faculty American critics of creationism Critics of cryptozoology Critics of Lamarckism Harvard University staff University of Arizona faculty American former Christians American agnostics American paleontologists American mammalogists National Medal of Science laureates Penrose Medal winners Foreign members of the Royal Society People associated with the American Museum of Natural History Yale University alumni 20th-century American zoologists Members of the American Philosophical Society Presidents of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

Awards and honors

Views

Books

See also

References

Further reading

External links