Stephen Jay Gould Dies of Cancer at 60

Author and Biologist Pondered Evolution

American Cancer Society

Stephen Jay Gould, Harvard University's outspoken and often controversial paleontologist whose groundbreaking work expanded the world of science to thousands of readers, died Monday in Manhattan of cancer. He was 60.

In July 1982, Gould was diagnosed with abdominal mesothelioma, a rare, serious cancer often related to asbestos exposure. In his writing, The Median is Not the Message, he explored cancer and statistics.

"When I revived after surgery," he wrote, "I asked my first question of my doctor and chemotherapist: "What is the best technical literature about mesothelioma?" She replied, with a touch of diplomacy (the only departure she has ever made from direct frankness), that the medical literature contained nothing really worth reading."

Humane Advice, Brutal Information

"As soon as I could walk, I made a beeline for Harvard's Countway medical library and punched mesothelioma into the computer's bibliographic search program. An hour later, surrounded by the latest literature on abdominal mesothelioma, I realized with a gulp why my doctor had offered that humane advice," he wrote.

"The literature couldn't have been more brutally clear: mesothelioma is incurable, with a median mortality of only eight months after discovery. I sat stunned for about fifteen minutes, then smiled and said to myself: so that's why they didn't give me anything to read," wrote Gould, who lived for 20 productive years after his diagnosis.

"'Median survival' is a statistical term for describing how long patients with a particular disease are likely to live. In Gould's case, a median survival of eight months meant that half of patients with mesothelioma live longer than eight months, and half survive less than eight months," said Ted Gansler, MD, an American Cancer Society medical editor.

An important message of The Median Is Not the Message is that although only half of patients live longer than the median survival, some patients may live much, much longer. In Gould's example, a median survival of eight months doesn't exclude the possibility of some patients living 20 years more (as he did) and certainly doesn't mean that he should expect to die in exactly eight months.

Gifted Teacher's Important Message

"Gould's essay explaining this statistical concept has brought hope and courage to innumerable people living with cancer," said Gansler.

Gould's most recent book, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory (2002), is a 1,433-page opus that took him more than 20 years to complete. At a reading and book signing at the Harvard Museum of Natural History shortly after its publication, he said that when he was diagnosed with cancer he believed he had "almost zero chance of finishing it."

Gould spent his professional career at Harvard. He wrote widely on topics ranging from baseball to the Sept. 11 tragedy. He appeared on the cover of Newsweek in 1982 and has been called by colleagues "the bulldog of evolutionary biology" for his outspoken advocacy of his views.

"I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of Stephen Jay Gould," said Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers, who called him "...a gifted teacher who brought important scientific ideas vividly to life for his students and for the wider public."

Jeremy R. Knowles, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, said, "The world is a sadly duller and a less informed place, without him."

Born Sept. 10, 1941, in New York City, Gould received his AB from Antioch College in geology in 1963. He received a doctorate from Columbia University in 1967.

Gould received many honors over the years, including more than 40 honorary degrees.

Gould's writing has made his a household name. He published many books as well as hundreds of essays in national newspapers and magazines on any of a host of scientific topics.

He is survived by his second wife, Rhonda Roland Shearer, and by his two children from his first marriage, Jesse and Ethan.

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