Sunderland, Mary Evelyn (Author)
During its centennial celebrations in 2008, the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) at the University of California, Berkeley paid homage to its founding director, Joseph Grinnell. Recognized as a leading scientific institution, the MVZ managed to grow throughout the twentieth century, a period often characterized by the decline of natural history. To understand how and why research flourished at the MVZ, this paper looks closely at Grinnell's undergraduate course, the Natural History of the Vertebrates (NHV). Taught by MVZ affiliates since 1914, the NHV offers an important window on Grinnell's approach and legacy. This paper argues that the NHV contributed to the MVZ's long-term success by acting as, first, a gateway to natural history; second, a vector for the MVZ's research programme; and third, a shared faculty responsibility. Grinnell's significance in the history of science is understated, in part because his writing style de-emphasized the importance of his theoretical contributions, including his development of the niche concept, his emphasis on population thinking and geographic isolation in studies of evolution, and his effort to integrate speciation questions and genetics. Studying the NHV highlights these contributions because Grinnell freely communicated his ideas to his students. An analysis of Grinnell's course material shows that his theoretical and methodological approach pre-dated the evolutionary synthesis and inspired natural-history research throughout the past century.
...More
Article
Sunderland, Mary E.;
(2012)
Collections-Based Research at Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
(/isis/citation/CBB001220848/)
Article
Lipps, Jere H.;
(2004)
Success Story: The History and Development of the Museum of Paleontology at the University of California, Berkeley
(/isis/citation/CBB001036107/)
Article
Sunderland, Mary E.;
(2013)
Modernizing Natural History: Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology in Transition
(/isis/citation/CBB001320039/)
Article
Sunderland, Mary E.;
(2013)
Computerizing Natural History Collections
(/isis/citation/CBB001213642/)
Book
Rodríguez-Robles, Javier A.;
Good, David A.;
Wake, David B.;
(2003)
Brief History of Herpetology in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, with a List of Type Specimens of Recent Amphibians and Reptiles
(/isis/citation/CBB000741897/)
Book
Mary Amanda Helmich;
Kevin V. Bunker;
(2018)
A legacy in brick & iron: Sacramento's Central & Southern Pacific Railroad shops
(/isis/citation/CBB258498215/)
Book
Kohlstedt, Sally Gregory;
(2010)
Teaching Children Science: Hands-On Nature Study in North America, 1890--1930
(/isis/citation/CBB001020047/)
Article
Brataas, Anne;
Kohlstedt, Sally Gregory;
(2011)
Shared and Distinctive Missions: The University of Minnesota and Its Natural History Museum, 1860--1940
(/isis/citation/CBB001022493/)
Book
Rader, Karen A.;
Cain, Victoria E. M.;
(2014)
Life on Display: Revolutionizing U.S. Museums of Science and Natural History in the Twentieth Century
(/isis/citation/CBB001422031/)
Article
Griesemer, James R.;
Gerson, Elihu M.;
(1993)
Collaboration in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
(/isis/citation/CBB000034783/)
Book
Colin Davey;
Kermit Roosevelt III;
Thomas A. Lesser;
(2019)
The American Museum of Natural History and How It Got That Way
(/isis/citation/CBB821898169/)
Article
Madsen-Brooks, Leslie;
(2013)
A Synthesis of Expertise and Expectations: Women Museum Scientists, Club Women and Populist Natural Science in the United States, 1890--1950
(/isis/citation/CBB001212644/)
Book
Peck, Robert McCracken;
Stroud, Patricia Tyson;
Purcell, Rosamond Wolff;
(2012)
A Glorious Enterprise: The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and the Making of American Science
(/isis/citation/CBB001251197/)
Thesis
Kasey Marie Sease;
(2021)
Marketing Agencies for Science: Nonprofits, Public Science Education, and Capitalism in Modern America
(/isis/citation/CBB197222725/)
Article
Rossi, Michael;
(2010)
Fabricating Authenticity: Modeling a Whale at the American Museum of Natural History, 1906--1974
(/isis/citation/CBB000954445/)
Article
Yochelson, Ellis L.;
(2004)
More Than 150 Years of Administrative Ups and Downs for Natural History in Washington. Smithsonian Institution, United States National Museum, National Museum of Natural History
(/isis/citation/CBB001036105/)
Thesis
Quintero, Camilo;
(2007)
Trading in Birds: A History of Science, Economy, and Conservation in UnitedStates-Colombia Relations
(/isis/citation/CBB001560717/)
Thesis
Rieppel, Lukas Benjamin;
(2012)
Dinosaurs: Assembling an Icon of Science
(/isis/citation/CBB001567402/)
Chapter
Gregory A. Liggett;
S. Terry Childs;
Nicholas A. Famoso;
H. Gregory McDonald;
Alan L. Titus;
Elizabeth Varner;
Cameron L. Liggett;
(2018)
From public lands to museums: The foundation of U.S. paleontology, the early history of federal public lands and museums, and the developing role of the U.S. Department of the Interior
(/isis/citation/CBB608011914/)
Article
Melber, Leah M.;
Abraham, Linda M.;
(2002)
Science Education in U.S. Natural History Museums: A Historical Perspective
(/isis/citation/CBB000202483/)
Be the first to comment!