Jan Lever (

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

, 20 July 1922 –

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, 23 November 2010) was a Dutch

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

specialized in

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 ...

endocrinology Endocrinology (from ''endocrine system, endocrine'' + ''wikt:-logy#Suffix, -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the ...

and

evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes such as natural selection, common descent, and speciation that produced the diversity of life on Earth. In the 1930s, the discipline of evolutionary biolo ...

. His ideas on evolution may be characterized as a form of

theistic evolution Theistic evolution (also known as theistic evolutionism or God-guided evolution), alternatively called evolutionary creationism, is a view that God acts and creates through laws of nature. Here, God is taken as the primary cause while natural cau ...

. Lever was an important voice in shaping Dutch public debate on evolution and biology, particularly in protestant circles.

Life and career

The

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

Lever studied biology at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

from 1939 onwards. Lever obtained his doctorate in 1950. He served as a professor of zoology at the

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public university, public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in ...

from 1952 until 1986. In his inaugural lecture, he presented his belief that evolution was the way in which God had created the world. He further developed this argument in his book ''Creatie en evolutie'' (1956; English translation 1958 under the title ''Creation and Evolution''). In 1970, Lever was elected member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

Research and writings

In the early 1950s, Lever started research on the neuroendocrine system of the basommatophoran snail, ''

Lymnaea stagnalis ''Lymnaea stagnalis'', common name, better known as the great pond snail, is a species of large air-breathing freshwater snail, an Aquatic animal, aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family (biology), family Lymnaeidae. The great pond sn ...

''. Lever himself found a particular kind of neurons in the ancylid snail ''Ferrissia'', and his student Joos Joosse demonstrated those neurons in other snail species. ''Lymnaea'' became the animal of choice for physiological research at the VU Amsterdam laboratory for decades. At the beginning of his career, Lever’s ideas about evolution and the species concept were inspired by the

Reformational philosophy Reformational philosophy of society is a neo-Calvinistic movement pioneered by Herman Dooyeweerd and D. H. Th. Vollenhoven that seeks to develop philosophical thought in a Reformed Christian direction. It is related to the idea of a polit ...

of philosopher

Herman Dooyeweerd Herman Dooyeweerd, also spelled Herman Dooijeweerd (7 October 1894, Amsterdam – 12 February 1977, Amsterdam), was a professor of law and jurisprudence at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam from 1926 to 1965. He was also a philosopher and princ ...

. During his student days, Lever became acquainted with the biologist

Johann Heinrich Diemer Johann Heinrich (Harry) Diemer (7 November 1904 – June 1945) was born in Dronrijp, the Netherlands. His father was the reverend N. Diemer, who served at the Reformed Church at Vijfhuizen. He studied biology at the University of Leiden. He studi ...

, who had published about Dooyeweerd's approach in the domain of biology in the 1930s. Diemer was a great influence on Lever's thought. Together with Dooyeweerd, Lever wrote four articles about the species concept in the journal '' Philosophia Reformata'' (1948–1950) in which species were defined as constant types. In his book, ''Creatie en Evolutie'' (1956), Lever still subscribed to Dooyeweerd’s philosophy but also suggested that it is possible that biological evolution occurred. Later he moved away from these earlier ideas about species constancy, and adhered to a kind of

Publications

*''Creatie en Evolutie'' (1956); translated in English (1958) as ''Creation and Evolution'' *''Quantitative beach research I, The "left-right-phenomenon": Sorting of lamellibranch valves on sandy beaches'' (1958) *''Waar blijven we?'' (1969); translated in English (1970) as ''Where are we headed? A biologist talks about origins, evolution, and the future'' *''Geïntegreerde biologie'' (1973) *''Schepping en evolutie'' (1985) *''Bomengids van Amsterdam-Zuid'' (2002) *''Feniks en broedmachine. Reisverhalen over deze wondere wereld'' (2003) *''Langs de mysterieuze grenzen van het leven'' (2006) *''Een bioloog leest de Bijbel'' (2010)

Literature

* Ab Flipse (2010)
"In memoriam prof. dr. Jan Lever, 20 juli 1922 – 23 november 2010"
HDC.VU.NL, 9 December 2010. Accessed 5 November 2018. * Ab Flipse (2016)
"Jan Lever: bioloog, bruggenbouwer en boegbeeld van de VU"
in: ''Verder kijken. Honderdvijfendertig jaar Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in de samenleving.'' Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit, 196-202. * Willem Bouwman (2006)
"De evolutie van professor Lever"
''

Nederlands Dagblad ''Nederlands Dagblad'' (; "Dutch Daily") is a Dutch daily newspaper, available nationwide, with a daily circulation of 23,800 issues (in 2020). History The paper was founded in 1944 as a semi- resistance paper during World War II called ''Refor ...

'', 17 maart 2006. * Ab Flipse (red.)(2022), ''Jan Lever - Honderd. Terugblikken op leven en werk van VU-bioloog Jan Lever (1922-2010)'' (Amsterdam: HDC, 2022); 158 pp.; ; Donum-reeks dl. 21

References

External links

Jan Lever pages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lever, Jan 1922 births 2010 deaths Utrecht University alumni Academic staff of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Dutch biologists Dutch zoologists Theistic evolutionists Dutch biblical scholars Bible commentators Reformed Churches Christians from the Netherlands Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences