Gould Commemorated

Renowned academics and intimate friends commemorated the life of famed Harvard evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould yesterday in Sanders Theater.

Four hundred friends, family, students, and colleagues attended the ceremony to recall Gould’s brilliance, insights, and kindness. Gould, who was Agassiz professor of zoology and professor of geology, died in May.

Members of the Chorus of the Boston Cecilia, of which Gould had been a member, opened the ceremony with an anthem composed for the 1882 internment of Charles Darwin in Westminster Abbey.

Harvard undergraduates remembered Gould as a popular professor who taught the courses Science B-16: “The History of Life” and Religion 1045: “Thinking about Thinking” with Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz and Thomas Professor of Divinity Harvey G. Cox.

“Whether we agreed or disagreed, Steve taught us to think for ourselves,” Warren D. Allmon, a former student, said.

Ethan Gould seemed slightly overwhelmed by the size of the audience as he took the podium to eulogize his father.

He recounted fond memories of his father’s good nature.

“My father was very optimistic. There were times, he was optimistic to a fault,” he said. “I feel very lucky to have had him as a father.”

Biologists remembered Gould both for his evolutionary theory known as “punctuated equilibrium,” which revolutionized the field by stating that evolution occurs not gradually but in fits and starts, and for his magnum opus The Structure of Evolutionary Theory.

Agassiz Professor of Zoology Richard C. Lewontin spoke about Gould’s academic philosophy.

According to Lewontin, Gould always delved to the root of things.

He said that Gould questioned generally accepted ideas, like Darwin’s theory of evolution, and sought to correct and improve them.

Lewontin also paid tribute to Gould’s unique ability to bring scientific theories to popular audiences.

“There is nothing more difficult than telling the truth about nature to non-scientists,” he said. “Steve’s radical approach was to believe that it was possible to explain the truth to a democratic public.”

Dershowitz delivered the last remembrance followed by the Boston Cecilia performance of the Amen chorus from Handel’s Messiah.

The crowd sat silently for a moment, then filed out to share their memories of Gould at a somber but celebratory reception.