Leigh Van Valen
Encyclopedia
Leigh Maiorana Van Valen (August 12, 1935 - October 16, 2010) was an American
evolutionary biologist. He was professor emeritus in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago
.
Amongst other work, Van Valen's proposed "Law of Extinction" drew upon the apparent constant probability (as opposed to rate) of extinction in families of related organisms, based on data compiled from existing literature on the duration of tens of thousands of genera throughout the fossil record. Van Valen proposed the Red Queen's Hypothesis
(1973), as an explanatory tangent to the Law of Extinction. The Red Queen's Hypothesis captures the idea that there is a constant 'arms race' between co-evolving species. Its name is a reference to the Red Queen's race in Lewis Carroll's
Alice Through the Looking Glass, in which the chess board moves such that Alice must continue running just to stay in the same place.
Van Valen also defined the Ecological Species Concept in 1976, in contrast to Ernst Mayr
's Biological Species Concept. In 1991, he proposed that HeLa
cells be defined as a new species, which was named Helacyton gartleri.
Van Valen originated the concept of fuzzy sets, prior to the formalization of this concept by L.A. Zadeh .
He had deep understanding of many fields outside of biology, including measure theory, probability theory
, logic
, thermodynamics
, epistemology and the philosophy of science
. It is widely thought that the unusual breadth and depth of his knowledge contributed to his great originality in the field of biology and elsewhere.
. He earned a zoology degree at age 20 in 1955 from Miami University
in Ohio
. He attended Columbia University
and studied under George Gaylord Simpson
and Theodosius Dobzhansky
.
Van Valen married Phebe May Hoff, but they divorced in 1984.
He died on October 16, 2010 of pneumonia
at St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital Center in Chicago, Illinois. Van Valen had been hospitalized for more than three months from a rare form of slowly progressing leukemia
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
evolutionary biologist. He was professor emeritus in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
.
Amongst other work, Van Valen's proposed "Law of Extinction" drew upon the apparent constant probability (as opposed to rate) of extinction in families of related organisms, based on data compiled from existing literature on the duration of tens of thousands of genera throughout the fossil record. Van Valen proposed the Red Queen's Hypothesis
Red Queen's Hypothesis
The Red Queen's Hypothesis, also referred to as Red Queen, Red Queen's race or Red Queen Effect, is an evolutionary hypothesis. The term is taken from the Red Queen's race in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass...
(1973), as an explanatory tangent to the Law of Extinction. The Red Queen's Hypothesis captures the idea that there is a constant 'arms race' between co-evolving species. Its name is a reference to the Red Queen's race in Lewis Carroll's
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
Alice Through the Looking Glass, in which the chess board moves such that Alice must continue running just to stay in the same place.
Van Valen also defined the Ecological Species Concept in 1976, in contrast to Ernst Mayr
Ernst Mayr
Ernst Walter Mayr was one of the 20th century's leading evolutionary biologists. He was also a renowned taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, historian of science, and naturalist...
's Biological Species Concept. In 1991, he proposed that HeLa
HeLa
A HeLa cell is a cell type in an immortal cell line used in scientific research. It is the oldest and most commonly used human cell line. The line was derived from cervical cancer cells taken on February 8, 1951 from Henrietta Lacks, a patient who eventually died of her cancer on October 4, 1951...
cells be defined as a new species, which was named Helacyton gartleri.
Van Valen originated the concept of fuzzy sets, prior to the formalization of this concept by L.A. Zadeh .
He had deep understanding of many fields outside of biology, including measure theory, probability theory
Probability theory
Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with analysis of random phenomena. The central objects of probability theory are random variables, stochastic processes, and events: mathematical abstractions of non-deterministic events or measured quantities that may either be single...
, logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
, thermodynamics
Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is a physical science that studies the effects on material bodies, and on radiation in regions of space, of transfer of heat and of work done on or by the bodies or radiation...
, epistemology and the philosophy of science
Philosophy of science
The philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, methods and implications of science. It is also concerned with the use and merit of science and sometimes overlaps metaphysics and epistemology by exploring whether scientific results are actually a study of truth...
. It is widely thought that the unusual breadth and depth of his knowledge contributed to his great originality in the field of biology and elsewhere.
Biography
He was born in Albany, New YorkAlbany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
. He earned a zoology degree at age 20 in 1955 from Miami University
Miami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. He attended Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and studied under George Gaylord Simpson
George Gaylord Simpson
George Gaylord Simpson was an American paleontologist. Simpson was perhaps the most influential paleontologist of the twentieth century, and a major participant in the modern evolutionary synthesis, contributing Tempo and mode in evolution , The meaning of evolution and The major features of...
and Theodosius Dobzhansky
Theodosius Dobzhansky
Theodosius Grygorovych Dobzhansky ForMemRS was a prominent geneticist and evolutionary biologist, and a central figure in the field of evolutionary biology for his work in shaping the unifying modern evolutionary synthesis...
.
Van Valen married Phebe May Hoff, but they divorced in 1984.
He died on October 16, 2010 of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
at St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital Center in Chicago, Illinois. Van Valen had been hospitalized for more than three months from a rare form of slowly progressing leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
.
Van Valen's description of his work
On the University of Chicago website for the Committee on Conceptual and Historical Studies of Science, Van Valen had written and posted this about himself:Publications
Publications include:- (1976). Ecological species, multispecies, and oaks. Taxon, 25:233-239.
- With Virginia C. Maiorana (1991). HeLaHeLaA HeLa cell is a cell type in an immortal cell line used in scientific research. It is the oldest and most commonly used human cell line. The line was derived from cervical cancer cells taken on February 8, 1951 from Henrietta Lacks, a patient who eventually died of her cancer on October 4, 1951...
, a new microbial species. Evolutionary Theory, 10:71-74 - "The extinction of the multituberculates,"Systematic Zoology 15 (1966), 261¬278 (with R.E. Sloan).
- "Selection in natural populations 7, New York babies (Fetal Life Study),"Annals of Human Genetics 31 (1967), 109-121 (with G.W. Mellen).
- "The origins of inversion polymorphisms,"American Naturalist 102 (1968), 5 -24 (with R. Levins).
- "A new evolutionary law,"Evolutionary Theory 1 (1973), 1¬30.
- "Brain size and intelligence in man," American Journal of Physical Anthropology 40 (1974), 417-423.
- "Multivariate structural statistics in natural history," Journal of Theoretical Biology 45 (1974), 235-247.
- "Group selection, sex, and fossils," Evolution 29 (1975), 87-94.
- "Individualistic classes," Philosophy of Science 43 (1977), 539-541.
- "The Archaebacteria and eukaryotic origins," Nature 287 (1980), 248-250 (with V.C. Maiorana).
- "Why misunderstand the evolutionary half of biology?" in E. Saarinen, ed., Conceptual Issues in Ecology, Reidel, 1982, 323-343.
- "Homology and causes," Journal of Morphology 173 (1982), 305-312.
- "Species, sets, and the derivative nature of philosophy," Biology and Philosophy 3 (1988), 49-66.
- "Biotal evolution: a manifesto," Evolutionary Theory 10 (1991), 1-13.
- "The origin of the plesiadapid primates and the nature of Purgatorius," Evolutionary Monographs 15 (1994), 1-79.
- “The last third of Mendel’s paper,” Evolutionary Theory 12 (2001), 99-100.
- “The evolution of menopause,” Evolutionary Theory 12 (2003), 131-153.
- “The statistics of variation,” in: Variation (B. Hallgrímsson & B. Hall, ed.), Elsevier Academic Press (2005), 29-47.
- “How ubiquitous is adaptation? A critique of the epiphenomenist program,” Biology and Philosophy 24 (2009), 267-280.