Stephen Jay Gould (; September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002) was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science.
Wright Mills' The Power Elite and the political writings of Noam Chomsky. While attending Antioch College in the early 1960s, Gould was active in the civil rights movement and often campaigned for social justice.
He died in his home "in a bed set up in the library of his SoHo loft, surrounded by his wife Rhonda, his mother Eleanor, and the many books he loved." ==Scientific career== Gould began his higher education at Antioch College, graduating with a double major in geology and philosophy in 1963.
He sometimes alluded ruefully to his tendency to put on weight. ===Marriage and family=== Gould married artist Deborah Lee on October 3, 1965.
After completing graduate work at Columbia University in 1967 under the guidance of Norman Newell, he was immediately hired by Harvard University where he worked until the end of his life (1967–2002).
In 1996, Gould was hired as the Vincent Astor Visiting Research Professor of Biology at New York University, where he divided his time teaching there and at Harvard. Gould's most significant contribution to evolutionary biology was the theory of punctuated equilibrium developed with Niles Eldredge in 1972.
In 1973, Harvard promoted him to professor of geology and curator of invertebrate paleontology at the institution's Museum of Comparative Zoology. In 1982, Harvard awarded him the title of Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology.
His second marriage in 1995 was to artist and sculptor Rhonda Roland Shearer. ===First bout of cancer=== In July 1982 Gould was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer affecting the abdominal lining (the peritoneum).
This cancer was unrelated to his previous bout of abdominal cancer in 1982.
In 1973, Harvard promoted him to professor of geology and curator of invertebrate paleontology at the institution's Museum of Comparative Zoology. In 1982, Harvard awarded him the title of Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology.
In 1983, he was awarded a fellowship at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, where he later served as president (1999–2001).
The AAAS news release cited his "numerous contributions to both scientific progress and the public understanding of science." He also served as president of the Paleontological Society (1985–1986) and of the Society for the Study of Evolution (1990–1991). In 1989, Gould was elected into the body of the National Academy of Sciences.
His second marriage in 1995 was to artist and sculptor Rhonda Roland Shearer. ===First bout of cancer=== In July 1982 Gould was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer affecting the abdominal lining (the peritoneum).
In 1996, Gould was hired as the Vincent Astor Visiting Research Professor of Biology at New York University, where he divided his time teaching there and at Harvard. Gould's most significant contribution to evolutionary biology was the theory of punctuated equilibrium developed with Niles Eldredge in 1972.
Through 1996–2002 Gould was Vincent Astor Visiting Research Professor of Biology at New York University.
In 2001, the American Humanist Association named him the Humanist of the Year for his lifetime of work.
Stephen Jay Gould (; September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002) was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science.
Gould died 10 weeks later on May 20, 2002, from a metastatic adenocarcinoma of the [lung|lung], an aggressive form of cancer which had already spread to his brain, liver, and spleen.
In 2008, he was posthumously awarded the Darwin–Wallace Medal, along with 12 other recipients.
(Until 2008, this medal had been awarded every 50 years by the Linnean Society of London.) ===Punctuated equilibrium=== Early in his career, Gould and his colleague Niles Eldredge developed the theory of punctuated equilibrium, which describes the rate of speciation in the fossil record as occurring relatively rapidly, which then alternates to a longer period of evolutionary stability.
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