University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, April 8. 1987
5
Scientist says tales of Darwin are wrong
By KJERSTI MOEN
Staff writer
The traditional image of Charles Darwin is incorrect, scientist and writer Stephen Jay Gould said in a lecture last night in the Kansas Union.
He especially emphasized Darwin's methods of reconstructing history from natural objects and phenomena.
Gould's speech was the last of three in a lecture series called "Contemporary Thinking About Science." The Committee on the History and Philosophy of Science and the division of biological sciences sponsored the the series.
"Darwin has become a saint because he was one of the world's greatest thinkers," he said.
"We can't see him as he really was the great, quirky systematizer." Gould told about 600 people who packed a hot Woodruff Auditorium to hear his speech "Darwin and the Science of History."
Gould, a professor of geology and goofy at Harvard University, is regarded by some as a great thinker himself. He also is curator of invertebrate paleontology at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Darwin is Gould's hero. Last night, Gould spoke warmly of the importance of Darwin's contributions to evolutionary theory.
Gould sometimes has made controversial contributions to theory scholarship and in the natural sciences, especially within evolutionary biology. He has published widely read books of popular science, such as "The Panda's Thumb," "Ever Since Darwin," "The Flamingo's Smile" and "The Mismeasure of Man."
After appearing on the cover of Newsweek and being interviewed by Time, People and Rolling Stone Gould also has become a media hero.
Charles Darwin, a 19th-century English evolutionist, was a radical innovator and systematologist, not the gentle, mild old man that traditional myths claim. Gould said.
By studying the habits and structures of earthworms, orchids and coral reefs. Darwin could draw geneticalusions about the past, Gould said.
"The entire corpus of Darwin's wings is one long argument for the orchids"
Darwin inferred the unknown from the known by studying single objects' imperfections and numerous objects' common characteristics. Gould said.
The panda's thumb, different types of coral reefs and human facial expressions all have been objects of scientific studies that resulted in inferences about the past, he said.
Gould's audience responded to his speech with occasional laughter, but when the time came to ask questions, he would come up with any that interested him.
"I wish more people had a basic understanding of the concept of science in history. Some understanding of our biological background and part in evolution is important to all of our society, both present and future." Welch said.
However, many were enthusiastic about the speech afterward.
"I enjoyed his speech. He was very articulate," said Bill Whelon, a Kansas City, Mo., resident who came to Lawrence to hear Gould speak.
David Huet-Vaughn, Leawood senior, said, "It's interesting to see how Darwin could figure out what the causes were of bizarre things in nature."
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