Charles Doolittle Walcott
Encyclopedia
Charles Doolittle Walcott (March 31, 1850 – February 9, 1927) was an American
invertebrate
paleontologist. He became known for his discovery
in 1909 of well-preserved fossil
s in the Burgess Shale
of British Columbia
, Canada
.
. He was interested in nature from an early age, collecting minerals and bird eggs
and, eventually, fossils. He attended various schools in the Utica area but left at the age of eighteen without completing high school, the end of his formal education. His interest in fossils solidified as he became a commercial fossil collector. On January 9, 1872, Walcott married Lura Ann Rust, daughter of the owner of a farm in New York where Walcott made one of his most important trilobite
discoveries (Walcott-Rust quarry
). She died on January 23, 1876. Walcott's interest in fossils led to his acquaintance with Louis Agassiz
of Harvard, who encouraged him to work in the field of paleontology
; later that year, he began work as the assistant to the state palaeontologist, James Hall. He lost this job after two years but was soon recruited to the newly formed US Geological Survey as a geological assistant.
,_sidney_stevens_walcott_(1892-1977),_and_helen_breese_walcott_(1894-1965).jpg)
Walcott began his professional paleontology career by discovering new localities, such as the Walcott-Rust quarry
in upstate New York and the Georgia Plane trilobite beds in Vermont, and by selling specimens to Yale University. In 1876, he became the assistant to James Hall
, State Geologist of New York. Walcott also became a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
.
In 1879, Walcott joined the US Geological Survey and rose to become its director in 1894. He worked especially on the Cambrian
layer in locations throughout the United States, making numerous field trips and linking the fossil
s he collected to the sequence of rocks in a way that made important contributions to stratigraphy
.
He married Helena Breese Stevens in 1888. They had four children between 1889 and 1896: Charles Doolittle Walcott, Sydney Stevens Walcott, Helena Breese Walcott, and Benjamin Stuart Walcott.
Walcott was elected to the National Academy
of Sciences in 1896. In 1902, he met with Andrew Carnegie
and became one of the founders and incorporators of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. He served in various administrative and research positions in that organization. In 1921 Walcott was awarded the inaugural Mary Clark Thompson Medal
from the National Academy of Sciences
.
in 1907 after the death of Samuel Pierpont Langley
, holding the latter post until his own death. He was succeeded by Charles Greeley Abbot
. Because of Walcott's responsibilities at the Smithsonian, he resigned as director of the United States Geological Survey. As part of the centennial celebration of Darwin's birth, Walcott was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Cambridge in 1909.
He served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
in 1923. He was an advisor to then-president, Theodore Roosevelt.
Walcott had an interest in the conservation movement and assisted its efforts.
, Walcott returned to the area accompanied by his sons Stuart and Sidney. Together they examined all the layers on the ridge above the point where the fossil-laden rock had been found, eventually finding the fossiliferous band. Between 1910 and 1924, Walcott returned repeatedly to collect more than 65,000 specimens from what is now known as the Walcott Quarry
, named after him.
Walcott's wife Helena died in a train crash in Connecticut in 1911. In 1914, Walcott married his third wife, Mary Morris Vaux
, an amateur artist and avid naturalist. She was happy to accompany him on his expeditions, as she loved studying nature. She made beautiful watercolor illustrations of wildflowers as she traveled with him in Canada.
Although Walcott spent a considerable amount of time at the Burgess Shale quarry on what became known as Fossil Ridge, he also traveled widely in other areas of the Canadian Rockies
. Some of his numerous scientific publications feature spectacular panoramic photographs of the mountains taken from high passes or high on mountain slopes.
Walcott would be little known today if he had not been brought to attention by Stephen Jay Gould
's book Wonderful Life
(1989). In this book, Gould put forth his opinion that Walcott failed to see the differences among the Burgess Shale species and "shoehorned" most of these fossils into existing phyla. Many paleontologists would now take a much less negative view of Walcott's descriptions and of the theoretical perspective that shaped them.
Walcott's work on Ordovician trilobites of New York also tended to be overlooked until, in the early 1990s, Rochester-based amateur paleontologist Thomas Whiteley revived Walcott's research and re-opened the Walcott-Rust quarry
near Russia, New York. This localized stata has some of the best preserved Laurentian trilobites ever found, including enrolled specimens with soft body parts.
A peak on Mount Burgess
in Canada
was named after him. The Charles Doolittle Walcott Medal
is awarded by the National Academy of Sciences
every five years for outstanding work in the field of pre-Cambrian
and Cambrian
life and history.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
paleontologist. He became known for his discovery
History of the Burgess Shale
The Burgess Shale, a series of fossil beds in the Canadian Rockies, was first noticed in 1886 by Richard McConnell of the Geological Survey of Canada . His and subsequent finds, all from the Mount Stephen area, came to the attention of palaeontologist Charles Doolittle Walcott, who in 1907 found...
in 1909 of well-preserved fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s in the Burgess Shale
Burgess Shale
The Burgess Shale Formation, located in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, is one of the world's most celebrated fossil fields, and the best of its kind. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils...
of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Early life
Walcott was born in New York Mills, New YorkNew York Mills, New York
New York Mills is a village in Oneida County, New York, USA. The population was 3,327 at the 2010 census.The Village of New York Mills is partly in the Town of Whitestown and partly in the Town of New Hartford. It is a western suburb of the City of Utica.-History:There were three mills which gave...
. He was interested in nature from an early age, collecting minerals and bird eggs
Oology
Oology is a branch of ornithology studying bird eggs, nests and breeding behavior. Oology can also refer to the hobby of collecting wild birds' eggs, sometimes called birdnesting or egging, which is now illegal in many jurisdictions.-As a science:Oology became increasingly popular in Britain and...
and, eventually, fossils. He attended various schools in the Utica area but left at the age of eighteen without completing high school, the end of his formal education. His interest in fossils solidified as he became a commercial fossil collector. On January 9, 1872, Walcott married Lura Ann Rust, daughter of the owner of a farm in New York where Walcott made one of his most important trilobite
Trilobite
Trilobites are a well-known fossil group of extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the Atdabanian stage of the Early Cambrian period , and they flourished throughout the lower Paleozoic era before...
discoveries (Walcott-Rust quarry
Walcott-Rust quarry
The Walcott-Rust quarry is an excellent example of an obrution Lagerstätten. Unique preservation of trilobite appendages resulted from early consolidation of the surrounding rock, followed by spar filling of the interior cavity within the appendages...
). She died on January 23, 1876. Walcott's interest in fossils led to his acquaintance with Louis Agassiz
Louis Agassiz
Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz was a Swiss paleontologist, glaciologist, geologist and a prominent innovator in the study of the Earth's natural history. He grew up in Switzerland and became a professor of natural history at University of Neuchâtel...
of Harvard, who encouraged him to work in the field of paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
; later that year, he began work as the assistant to the state palaeontologist, James Hall. He lost this job after two years but was soon recruited to the newly formed US Geological Survey as a geological assistant.
Career
Walcott-Rust quarry
The Walcott-Rust quarry is an excellent example of an obrution Lagerstätten. Unique preservation of trilobite appendages resulted from early consolidation of the surrounding rock, followed by spar filling of the interior cavity within the appendages...
in upstate New York and the Georgia Plane trilobite beds in Vermont, and by selling specimens to Yale University. In 1876, he became the assistant to James Hall
James Hall (paleontologist)
James Hall was an American geologist and paleontologist. He was a noted authority on stratigraphy and had an influential role in the development of American paleontology.-Early life:...
, State Geologist of New York. Walcott also became a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
.
In 1879, Walcott joined the US Geological Survey and rose to become its director in 1894. He worked especially on the Cambrian
Cambrian
The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting from Mya ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for Wales, where Britain's...
layer in locations throughout the United States, making numerous field trips and linking the fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s he collected to the sequence of rocks in a way that made important contributions to stratigraphy
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering . It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks....
.
He married Helena Breese Stevens in 1888. They had four children between 1889 and 1896: Charles Doolittle Walcott, Sydney Stevens Walcott, Helena Breese Walcott, and Benjamin Stuart Walcott.
Walcott was elected to the National Academy
National academy
A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the humanities. Typically the country's learned societies in...
of Sciences in 1896. In 1902, he met with Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
and became one of the founders and incorporators of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. He served in various administrative and research positions in that organization. In 1921 Walcott was awarded the inaugural Mary Clark Thompson Medal
Mary Clark Thompson Medal
The Mary Clark Thompson Medal is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "for most important service to geology and paleontology." Named after Mary Clark Thompson, it was first awarded in 1921.- List of Mary Clark Thompson Medal winners :...
from the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
.
Smithsonian
Walcott became Secretary of the Smithsonian InstitutionSmithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in 1907 after the death of Samuel Pierpont Langley
Samuel Pierpont Langley
Samuel Pierpont Langley was an American astronomer, physicist, inventor of the bolometer and pioneer of aviation...
, holding the latter post until his own death. He was succeeded by Charles Greeley Abbot
Charles Greeley Abbot
Charles Greeley Abbot was an American astrophysicist, astronomer and Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. He was born in Wilton, New Hampshire.-Life:...
. Because of Walcott's responsibilities at the Smithsonian, he resigned as director of the United States Geological Survey. As part of the centennial celebration of Darwin's birth, Walcott was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Cambridge in 1909.
He served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science , founded in 1848, is the world's largest general scientific society. It serves 262 affiliated societies and academies of science and engineering, representing 10 million individuals worldwide...
in 1923. He was an advisor to then-president, Theodore Roosevelt.
Walcott had an interest in the conservation movement and assisted its efforts.
Burgess shale
In 1910, the year after his discovery of Cambrian fossils in the Burgess shaleBurgess Shale
The Burgess Shale Formation, located in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, is one of the world's most celebrated fossil fields, and the best of its kind. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils...
, Walcott returned to the area accompanied by his sons Stuart and Sidney. Together they examined all the layers on the ridge above the point where the fossil-laden rock had been found, eventually finding the fossiliferous band. Between 1910 and 1924, Walcott returned repeatedly to collect more than 65,000 specimens from what is now known as the Walcott Quarry
Walcott Quarry
The Walcott Quarry is the most famous quarry of the Burgess Shale, bearing the Phyllopod beds. This lies at the base of the Walcott Quarry member, and three other quarries – the Raymond, UE and EZ – lie above it...
, named after him.
Walcott's wife Helena died in a train crash in Connecticut in 1911. In 1914, Walcott married his third wife, Mary Morris Vaux
Mary Vaux Walcott
Mary Morris Vaux Walcott was an American artist and naturalist known for her watercolor paintings of wildflowers....
, an amateur artist and avid naturalist. She was happy to accompany him on his expeditions, as she loved studying nature. She made beautiful watercolor illustrations of wildflowers as she traveled with him in Canada.
Although Walcott spent a considerable amount of time at the Burgess Shale quarry on what became known as Fossil Ridge, he also traveled widely in other areas of the Canadian Rockies
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
. Some of his numerous scientific publications feature spectacular panoramic photographs of the mountains taken from high passes or high on mountain slopes.
Death and legacy
After Walcott's death in Washington, DC, his samples, photographs, and notes remained in storage until their rediscovery by a new generation of paleontologists in the late 1960s. Since then, many of his interpretations have been revised.Walcott would be little known today if he had not been brought to attention by Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. He was also one of the most influential and widely read writers of popular science of his generation....
's book Wonderful Life
Wonderful Life (book)
Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History is a book on the evolution of Cambrian fauna by Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould...
(1989). In this book, Gould put forth his opinion that Walcott failed to see the differences among the Burgess Shale species and "shoehorned" most of these fossils into existing phyla. Many paleontologists would now take a much less negative view of Walcott's descriptions and of the theoretical perspective that shaped them.
Walcott's work on Ordovician trilobites of New York also tended to be overlooked until, in the early 1990s, Rochester-based amateur paleontologist Thomas Whiteley revived Walcott's research and re-opened the Walcott-Rust quarry
Walcott-Rust quarry
The Walcott-Rust quarry is an excellent example of an obrution Lagerstätten. Unique preservation of trilobite appendages resulted from early consolidation of the surrounding rock, followed by spar filling of the interior cavity within the appendages...
near Russia, New York. This localized stata has some of the best preserved Laurentian trilobites ever found, including enrolled specimens with soft body parts.
A peak on Mount Burgess
Mount Burgess
Mount Burgess, , is a mountain in Yoho National Park and is part of the Canadian Rockies. It is located in the southwest buttress of Burgess Pass in the Emerald River and Kicking Horse River Valleys.-History:...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
was named after him. The Charles Doolittle Walcott Medal
Charles Doolittle Walcott Medal
Charles Doolittle Walcott Medal is an award presented by the National Academy of Sciences every five years to promote research and study in the fields of Precambrian and Cambrian life and history. The medal was established and endowed in 1934 by the Walcott Fund, a gift of Mary Vaux Walcott, in...
is awarded by the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
every five years for outstanding work in the field of pre-Cambrian
Precambrian
The Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...
and Cambrian
Cambrian
The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting from Mya ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for Wales, where Britain's...
life and history.
Publications
- Cambrian Brachiopoda with descriptions of new genera and species, (1905) Proceedings of the United States National Museum; v. 28.
- Cambrian faunas of China, (1905) From the Proceedings of the United States national museum, vol.xxx. 106 p.
- Cambrian Geology and Paleontology, (1910) at Internet Archive
- Correlation Papers on the Cambrian, (1890) Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey; no.81. 447 p.
- The fauna of the Lower Cambrian or Olenellus zone, (1890) Extract from the 10th annual report of the director of the U. S. Geological Survey, 1888–89, pt. I. p. 516-524.
- Fossil Medusa, (1898) Monographs of the United States Geological Survey; no.30, 201 p.
- Geology of the Eureka district, Nevada, with an atlas, (1892) Monographs of the United States Geological Survey; no.20, 419 p.
- The North American continent during Cambrian time, (1892) Extract from the 12th annual report of the director of the U.S. Geological survey, 1890–91, pt. I. pp:523-568
- The Paleontology of the Eureka District, (1884) Monographs of the United States Geological Survey; no.8, 298 p.
External links
- Charles Doolittle Walcott - Mystery at Pioche, Nevada
- Walcott Peak
- Charles Doolittle Walcott Medal
- The Walcott-Rust Quarry (modern excavation)
- Finding Aid to the Charles D. Walcott Collection