Gazette
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March 2002
Stephen Jay Gould, one of the best known and most
widely read American scientists today, will present the Commencement
address at Whitman College May 19. Gould, professor of zoology and geology at Harvard
University, is recognized for his contributions to evolutionary
theory and the philosophy and history of science. He has played
a key role in shaping scientific debate on the theory of evolution,
the interpretation of fossil evidence, and the meaning of diversity
and change in biology. Gould has written more than 20 best-selling books
and also was the author of a 27-year series of monthly columns for
Natural History magazine. He has been a member of the advisory
board of the PBS science series, NOVA, since 1980. He is
president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. At Harvard, he is curator of invertebrate paleontology
at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and he spends part of his
time at New York University as a visiting research professor of
biology. Gould has received numerous awards including the
MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship, the prestigious Medal of
Edinburgh, and the Silver National Medal of the Zoology Society
of London. His many books include The Mismeasure of Man (1981),Wonder-ful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History (1989), Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin (1996), and seven volumes of essays including The Panda’s Thumb (1980), Bully for Brontosaurus (1991), and Dinosaur in a Haystack (1995).
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