Re: paleontologists

[Jonathon Woolf <jwoolf@erinet.com>]

Jack wrote:

> Just a fun, hypothetical question--
>
> If there was to be a paleontologist of the century, who might it be?

Granted this is the Dino List <g>, but still there's an awful lot of
dino-chauvenism among the names being tossed around.  Meself, I'd be
including the following in the list of nominees:

* George Gaylord Simpson, excellent field paleontologist and also a
high-class theorist.

* Charles Walcott, owner-collector of one of the largest collections of
Cambrian fossils ever.

* Childs Frick, whose money and dedication produced a Brobdignagian
collection of fossil North American mammals.

* Richard Leakey -- he did more than just about anyone to put
paleo-anthropology in the public eye.   Or maybe a joint nomination for
the entire Leakey clan: Louis, Meave, Richard, Mary, and I think there's
one or two others.

Oh, and what about non-Americans?  I don't hear a whole lot about them,
but there have to be at least a couple of people in the
non-English-speaking world who qualify.

-- JSW