Ralph Vary Chamberlin (January 3, 1879 - October 31, 1967) is an American biologist, ethnographer, and historian from Salt Lake City, Utah. He was a faculty member of the University of Utah for over 25 years, where he helped found the School of Medicine and served as his first dean, and later became head of the zoology department. He also taught at Brigham Young University and the University of Pennsylvania, and worked for more than a decade at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, where he described species from around the world.
Chamberlin is a prolific taxonomist who names more than 4,000 new animal species in over 400 scientific publications. He specializes in arachnids (spiders, scorpions, and relatives) and myriapod (centipedes, millipedes, and relatives), ranking among the most prolific arachnologists and myriapodologists in history. He described more than 1,400 species of spiders, 1,000 millipedes species, and the majority of North American centipedes, although the quantity of output does not always correspond to quality, leaving a mixed heritage for successors. He also undertook a pioneering ethnobiological study with Goshute and other natives of Great Basin, cataloging the original names and use of plant and animal cultures. Chamberlin was celebrated by his colleagues at the University of Utah, but he was disliked among some arachnologists, including some of his former students. After retiring, he continued to write, publish on the history of education in his home country, especially at the University of Utah.
Chamberlin is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). At the beginning of the 20th century, Chamberlin was among four popular Mormon professors at Brigham Young University whose evolutionary teaching and biblical criticism resulted in controversy in 1911 among University and Church officials, which ultimately resulted in his resignation and two other professors despite widespread support of the student body, an event described as "the first brush with modernism" of Mormonism.
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Biography
Early life and education
Ralph Vary Chamberlin was born on 3 January 1879, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to the parents of William Henry Chamberlin, a prominent builder and contractor, and Eliza Frances Chamberlin (nÃÆ' Â © e Brown). Chamberlin traced his father's line to an English immigrant who settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1638, and his mother's lineage to an old Dutch family in Pennsylvania. Born to the parents of Mormon, the young Chamberlin attended Latter-day Saint College, and although very interested in nature, initially decided to study mathematics and art before choosing biology. His brother, William, the eldest of 12 children, also shared Ralph's scientific interest and then taught beside him. Ralph attended Utah University, graduated with a B.S. degree in 1898, and then spent four years teaching high school and some college level courses in biology as well as geology, chemistry, physics, Latin, and Germany at the University of the Saints of the End. In 1900 he had written nine scientific publications.
In the summer of 1902 Chamberlin studied at Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, and from 1902-1904 studied at Cornell University under the Goldwin Smith Fellowship, and became a member of the fraternity of Gamma Alpha and the honor society of Sigma Xi. He studied under entomologist John Henry Comstock and earned his doctorate in 1904. His dissertation was a revision of the North American wolf spider taxonomy, where he reviewed all known species in northern Mexico, recognizing 67 of about 150 nominal species as distinct and recognized. Zoologist Thomas H. Montgomery considers the Chamberlin monograph as one of the "decisive interests" in using pedipalps (male reproductive organ) structures to help define the genera, and in its detailed description of the species.
Initial career: University of Utah
It's for Professor Chamberlin that credit should be given to start medical training at the University of Utah.
Upon his return from Cornell, Chamberlin was employed by the University of Utah, where he worked from 1904 to 1908, as an assistant professor (1904-1905) then full professor. He immediately began to improve his biology course, which at that time was only from high school, to college standards, and introduced a new course in the histology of vertebrates and embryology. He was the first dean of the Utah University Medical School, serving from 1905 to 1907. During the summer of 1906, his plan to teach a summer course in embryology at the University of Chicago was canceled when he suffered a serious accident in the fall. , break the two leg bones and break the artery at his feet. In 1907, University officials decided to incorporate medical school into the existing department, which made the Ambassador Chamberlin's position obsolete. He resigned as dean in May 1907, despite remaining a member of the faculty. The medical students strongly objected, credited the school's profits over the past few years to his business.
In late 1907 and early 1908, Chamberlin was involved in a bitter torture with his fellow Utah professor, Ira D. Cardiff, who would sacrifice both. Cardiff, a botanist employed in the spring of 1907, claimed that Chamberlin offered him a professorship of $ 2,000 to $ 2,250 a year, but at the time of hiring only $ 1,650 was offered by university bupatis. Cardiff filed suit for $ 350, which initially the court decided Chamberlin had to pay, and Chamberlin's wages were decorated. Both become alienated and not communicative. There was tension between them for some time - Chamberlin's supporters claimed Cardiff was involved in his dismissal as dean - and the Salt Lake Tribune noted "the friction between two people, of a different nature and not entirely due to financial problems, arose even before Professor Cardiff received his appointment ". In March 1908, university bupati fired Chamberlin and Cardiff, appointing a new professor to lead the zoology and botany department. In July, after the appeal, the lawsuit was canceled and Cardiff was ordered to pay the fee. Chamberlin at that time got a job at Brigham Young University.
Brigham Young University
In 1908, Chamberlin was hired to lead the Department of Biology at Brigham Young University (BYU), a university owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), during the period in which BYU president George H. Brimhall attempted improve his academic position. LDS College professor JH Paul, in a letter to Brimhall, has written Chamberlin is "one of the world's leading naturalists, though, I think, he's only about 28. I've never met the same... We can not let him drift". Chamberlin oversees the offer of an expanded biology course and leads the journey of collecting insects with the students. Chamberlin joins a pair of newly-employed siblings on the faculty, Joseph and Henry Peterson, who teach psychology and education. Chamberlin and both Peterson work to improve the intellectual position of the University. In 1909, Chamberlin's brother, William H. Chamberlin was hired to teach philosophy. The four academics, all active members of the Church, are known for teaching modern scientific and philosophical ideas and encouraging lively debate and discussion. The Chamberlins and Petersons hold the belief that the theory of evolution is compatible with religious views, and promotes historical criticism of the Bible, the view that the writings contained must be viewed from the context of time: Ralph Chamberlin publishes essays in
At the end of 1910, complaints from the stake president inspired an inquiry into the teachings of professors. The 1911 Chamberlin essay "Evolution and Theological Belief" is considered highly inappropriate by school officials. In early 1911, Ralph Chamberlin and Peterson's brothers were offered the choice to stop teaching evolution or lose their jobs. The three professors were popular among students and faculty, who denied that evolutionary teachings had destroyed their faith. A student petition to support professors signed by over 80% of the student body sent to the administration, and then to the local newspaper. Instead of changing their teachings, three professors were accused of resigning in 1911, while William Chamberlin remained for five years.
In 1910, Chamberlin was elected a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Pennsylvania and Harvard
After leaving Brigham Young, Chamberlin was employed as a lecturer and research fellow of the George Leib Harrison Foundation at the University of Pennsylvania from 1911 to 1913. From March 1913 to December 31, 1925, he was the Arachnid Curator, Myriapod, and Worm at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University , in which many of his scientific contributions were made. Here, its publications include surveys of all known mountain foothills in Central America and the West Indies; and the description of animals collected by the Canadian Arctic Expedition (1913-1916); by Stanford and Yale expeditions to South America; and by various expeditions from the USS Albatross . He was elected a member of the American Society of Naturalists and American Society of Zoologists in 1914, and in 1919 served as second vice-president of the Entomological Society of America. He served as a technical expert for the US Horticulture Board and the US Biological Survey from 1923 to the mid-1930s.
Return to Utah
Chamberlin returned to the University of Utah in 1925, where he became head of the department of zoology and botany. When he arrived, the faculty consisted of a zoologist, a botanist, and an instructor. He soon began to expand the size and diversity of biology programs, and by the time of his retirement, the faculty consisted of 16 professors, seven instructors, and three special lecturers. He is the most famous scientist at the university according to Sterling M. McMurrin, and his study of evolution is the most popular on campus. He co-founded the Biology Series from the University of Utah and oversaw the graduate work of some students who will continue into a distinguished career, including Willis J. Gertsch, Wilton Ivie, William H. Behle and Stephen D Durrant; the last three will then join Chamberlin as a faculty member. From 1930 to 1939, Chamberlin was the treasurer secretary of the Salt Lake City Mosquito Reduction Council and conducted a mosquito survey in the area, identifying swamps controlled by local hunters as the main source of mosquitoes of salt marshes that infect the city. From 1938 to 1939 he took a one-year sabbatical, where he studied at European universities and museums, led part of the International Entomology Congress in Berlin, and later studied biology and archeology in Mexico and South America. In 1942 he received a Doctor of Honor from the University of Utah. He retired in 1948, and in 1957, an honorary ceremony was held by the Utah Phi Sigma Society where a portrait of Chamberlin was painted by Alvin L. Gittins donated to the University and a book of warning letters produced. In 1960, the Utah University Alumni Association rewarded Chamberlin, the Founders Day Award for Distinguished Alumni, the university's highest award.
Wherever he is, [Chamberlin] has produced unusual stimulation in students, many of whom become excited by his enthusiasm for using accurate and tested knowledge. Many capture the vision of what human life means when viewed from the point of view of human evolution and interpreted by its emerging intelligence that has defeated so many of its animal competitors in the race of evolution. "
Chamberlin was noted by his colleagues in Utah for being a lifelong champion of the scientific method and inculcated in his student notion that natural processes should be used to explain human existence. Angus and Grace Woodbury wrote that one of his greatest cultural contributions was his ability "to lead a naïve student with a religious belief still gently around a wide gulf that separates him from a trained scientific mind without pushing him into the abyss of despair and illusion." His influence continues as his students become teachers, gradually increasing people's understanding of evolution and naturalistic perspectives. His colleague and former student Stephen Durrant states "with words, and especially with teachings, he teaches us persistence, curiosity, love of the truth, and especially scientific honesty." Durrant compares Chamberlin with renowned biologists such as Spencer Fullerton Baird and C. Hart Merriam within the scope of his contribution sciences.
Personal life and death
On July 9, 1899, Chamberlin married Daisy Ferguson of Salt Lake City, with whom he had four children: Beth, Ralph, Della, and Ruth. His first marriage ended in a divorce in 1910. On June 28, 1922, he married Edith Simons, also from Salt Lake, and with whom he had six children: Eliot, Frances, Helen, Shirley, Edith, and Martha Sue. His son, Eliot, became a 40-year-old mathematician and professor at the University of Utah. Chamberlin's second wife died in 1965, and Chamberlin himself died in Salt Lake City after a brief illness on October 31, 1967, at the age of 88. He survived by 10 of his children, 28 grandchildren and 36 great-grandchildren.
Maps Ralph Vary Chamberlin
Research
Chamberlin's work includes over 400 publications covering over 60 years. The majority of his research deals with the taxonomy of arthropods and other invertebrates, but his work also includes titles in folklore, economics, anthropology, language, botany, anatomy, histology, philosophy, education, and history. He is a member of the American Society of Naturalists, the Torrey Botanical Club, the New York Academy of Sciences, the Boston Society of Natural History, the Washington Society of Biology, and the Academy of Utah Science.
Taxonomy
Chamberlin is a taxonomist of productive invertebrate animals named and described over 4,000 species, specializing in arachnid studies (spiders, scorpions, and their relatives), and myriapods (millipedes, centipedes, and relatives), but also publications on molluscs, marine worms, and insects. In 1941 he has described at least 2,000 species, and in 1957 has described a total of 4,225 new species, 742 new genera, 28 new families, and 12 orders. Chamberlin's taxonomic publication continued to emerge until at least 1966.
Chamberlin belongs to the most productive arachnological group in history. In a 2013 survey of the most productive systematic spiders, Chamberlin was ranked fifth in the total number of species described (1,475) and eighth in the number of valid species (984), ie not the previously unconventional taxonomic species described. At the University of Utah Chamberlin co-authored several works with his students Wilton Ivie and Willis J. Gertsch, both of whom will be famous spider scientists: the "famous duo" of Chamberlin and Ivie describe hundreds of species together. Chamberlin describes or explains more than a third of the 621 known spiders in Utah origin. Chamberlin is also a leading expert on North American tarantulas, describing more than 60 species. Chamberlin works with other arachnid groups as well, including scorpions, harvesters, and skizomids, and describes some pseudoscorpions with his nephew Joseph C. Chamberlin, himself a prominent arachnologist.
Among his fellow arachnologists, Chamberlin is regarded as influential but not particularly favored: in his many papers written with Ivie, it was Ivie himself who did most of the collection, and described, while Chamberlin remained the first author, and the 1947 quarrel over recognition caused Ivie to leave the arachnology during many years. When arachnologist Arthur M. Chickering sent Chamberlin a collection of specimens from Panama, Chamberlin never returned it and even published it, which made Chickering reluctant to collaborate with his colleagues. Chamberlin is said to have been eventually banned from the Comparative Zoological Museum by Ernst Mayr in his later years, and after the death of Chamberlin, his former student Gertsch said "the natural ugliness finally made it".
Chamberlin's other major field of study is myriapods. He published centipedes early in 1901, and between that time and around 1960 was the most superior, if not exclusive, North American bats researcher to account for most North American species, and many from around the world. In addition, he named more than 1,000 millipedes species, ranking among the three most productive millipede taxonomies in history. The "North American Miliped Checklist" of 1958, an eight-year compilation of all records and species in northern Mexico, represents nearly 600% increase in species recorded from previous lists published more than 50 years earlier, although the work itself illustrates none new species. Chamberlin contributed articles on millipedes, pauropods and symphylans in the 1961 edition of EncyclopÃÆ'Â|dia Britannica .
Despite the predictions of a productive species, the legacy of myriapod taxonomy has been mixed. Many of Chamberlin's descriptions of centipedes and centipedes are often short and/or not dodged, or illustrated in ways that inhibit their use in identification by other researchers. He describes some new species based only on location, or on the difference in fine legs now known to change during molting, and many of the Chamberlin names have been found, or suspected, synonymous of the species already described. Biologist Richard Hoffman, who worked with Chamberlin on the 1958 checklist, then described Chamberlin as a "minimal taxonomic example", and declared his taxonomic work on Central American mirages "introduces more problems than progress, a pattern that survives for many decades to come". Hoffman writes that Chamberlin is a "alpha taxonomist who claims" whose primary interest is to name a new species, "although acknowledging Chamberlin's work with stone centipedes as a pioneer, and an unmatched quality in later Chamberlin work.
Chamberlin studied not only arthropods but also soft-bodied invertebrates. He described more than 100 new species and 22 new genera of polychaete worms in a two volume work considered one of the "great monuments" in the annelid taxonomy by former director of Hopkins Marine Station, and published on the Utah molluscan fauna. She is the sexy editor of sipretids and also myriapod for the database of the academic journal Biological Abstracts. William Behle has noted he also made indirect contributions to ornithology, including leading a few days of collecting travel specimens and guiding graduate research Stephen Durrant, working on Utah game birds, and Behle himself, who studied birds nesting in Great Salt Lake..
After Chamberlin's death, a collection of about 250,000 specimens of spiders was donated to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, reinforcing the museum's status as the world's largest arachnid reparation. Similarly, his collection of millipedes stored at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., helped make the museum the world's largest single collection of specimens of the millipede-the individual specimens used to describe the species.
Great Basin Cultural Studies
Early in his career, Chamberlin learned the language and customs of indigenous peoples in the Great Basin. He worked with the Goshute band of Western Shoshone to document the use of more than 300 plants in their food, beverages, medicines, and construction materials - their ethnobotany - as well as the name and meaning of plants in Goshute. The publication it produces, "Ethno-botani Indian Gosiute in Utah", is considered the first major ethnobotical study of a single Great Basin society group. He also published a survey on Goshute animals and terms of anatomy, place and personal names, and compilation of plant names from Utes people. One of Chamberlin's old friends at the University of Utah is Julian Steward, who is known as the founder of cultural ecology. Steward himself describes Chamberlin's work as "extraordinary", and anthropologist Virginia Kerns writes that the Chamberlin experience with the original Great Basin culture facilitates Steward's own cultural studies: "in terms of ecological knowledge, [young Steward informants] may not be able to match the elders who have instructed. "Chamberlin gave Goshute's name to some organisms he described, such as the Pimoa spider, meaning" big legs ", and worm Sonatsa , which means "lots of hooks", in Goshute.
Other works
The work of Chamberlin transcends biology and anthropology to include historical, philosophical and theological writings. At BYU he published several articles in student newspapers on topics such as historical criticism of the Bible and the relationship of evolutionary theory to religious beliefs. In 1925, he wrote a biography of his brother, William H. Chamberlin, a philosopher and theologian who had died several years earlier. The Utah philosopher, Sterling McMurrin, declared the biography "to have considerable impact" on his own life, and noted "the fact that the book is sufficient and persuasively presents philosophical thought WH Chamberlin demonstrates the philosophical competence of Ralph Chamberlin" In 1932, Chamberlin wrote "Life in Another World: Studies in the History of Opinion ", one of the earliest surveys from ancient to modern times from the concept of cosmic pluralism, the idea that the universe contains many inhabited worlds. After retiring in 1948, Chamberlin devoted significant attention to the history of the University of Utah. In 1949 he edited a biography tribute to John R. Park, an influential Utah educator in the 19th century. Assembled from comments and reflections from Park's own students, Memories of John Rockey Park was praised by British Utah University professor B. Roland Lewis, who claimed "the warrant is read by every citizen [Utah]." Later in his career , Chamberlin produced an authoritative book, The University of Utah, History of the First Hundred Years, that BYU historian Eugene E. Campbell calls "the excellent history of this important western institution." The University of Utah also contains an extensive report of Deseret University, a university founded by the LDS Church that precedes the University of Utah.
Religious view
Chamberlin wholeheartedly believes in Darwin's theory of evolution including its most undesirable implications such as natural brutality implied by natural selection and the decline of humans from lower primates. It is also clear that Chamberlin is a devout Mormon... Chamberlin believes that because science and religion are a different part of an eternal truth, they can be reconciled.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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