TY - JOUR
T1 - Stephen Jay Gould, Jack Sepkoski, and the 'quantitative revolution' in American paleobiology
AU - Sepkoski, David
N1 - Funding Information:
A number of people assisted with this project at various stages. I am very grateful to Michael Ruse for encouraging me to write this paper and for supporting me throughout. Thanks also to Paul Brinkman, Christine Janis, and three anonymous referees for helpful comments on earlier drafts. Roger Lauschman provided valuable insights into the history of the logistic equation, and Patricia Princehouse generously allowed me to quote from her dissertation. Rob Cox and the staff at the American Philosophical Society were gracious hosts during a visit to conduct initial research on Sepkoski. I also thank the Paleontological Society for permission to reproduce figures from Paleobiology. Preliminary research for this article was supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
PY - 2005/6
Y1 - 2005/6
N2 - During the 1970s, a "revolution" in American paleobiology took place. It came about in part because a group of mostly young, ambitious paleontologists adapted many of the quantitative methodologies and techniques developed in fields including biology and ecology over the previous several decades to their own discipline. Stephen Jay Gould, who was then just beginning his career, joined others in articulating a singular vision for transforming paleontology from an isolated and often ignored science to a "nomothetic discipline" that could sit at evolution's "high table." Over the course of a single decade, between 1970 and 1980, this transformation had in large part been accomplished. Among those most centrally involved in this process were Gould, Thomas Schopf, David Raup, and Gould's graduate student Jack Sepkoski, all of whom made major contributions in theoretical and quantitative analysis of the fossil record and evolutionary history. Recognizing that an ideological agenda was not enough, Gould and others developed and promoted new outlets, technologies, and pedagogical strategies to nurture their new discipline. This paper describes this process of transformation, and presents Sepkoski's education and participation as exemplary of the "new model paleontologist", which Gould hoped to produce.
AB - During the 1970s, a "revolution" in American paleobiology took place. It came about in part because a group of mostly young, ambitious paleontologists adapted many of the quantitative methodologies and techniques developed in fields including biology and ecology over the previous several decades to their own discipline. Stephen Jay Gould, who was then just beginning his career, joined others in articulating a singular vision for transforming paleontology from an isolated and often ignored science to a "nomothetic discipline" that could sit at evolution's "high table." Over the course of a single decade, between 1970 and 1980, this transformation had in large part been accomplished. Among those most centrally involved in this process were Gould, Thomas Schopf, David Raup, and Gould's graduate student Jack Sepkoski, all of whom made major contributions in theoretical and quantitative analysis of the fossil record and evolutionary history. Recognizing that an ideological agenda was not enough, Gould and others developed and promoted new outlets, technologies, and pedagogical strategies to nurture their new discipline. This paper describes this process of transformation, and presents Sepkoski's education and participation as exemplary of the "new model paleontologist", which Gould hoped to produce.
KW - J. John Sepkoski, Jr.
KW - Paleobiology
KW - Paleontology
KW - Statistics
KW - Stephen Jay Gould
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U2 - 10.1007/s10739-004-2084-5
DO - 10.1007/s10739-004-2084-5
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:22144443209
SN - 0022-5010
VL - 38
SP - 209
EP - 237
JO - Journal of the History of Biology
JF - Journal of the History of Biology
IS - 2
ER -