Member-only story

Charles Doolittle Walcott: The Pioneer Paleontologist Who Revolutionized Our Understanding of Life's Origins

Andy Cole

·17.3k Followers· Follow

Published in Charles Doolittle Walcott Paleontologist Adina Hoffman

4 min read · 3 weeks before

279 View Claps

45 Respond

Save

Listen

Charles Doolittle Walcott, A Man With A Mustache And Glasses, Holding A Fossil Charles Doolittle Walcott Paleontologist Adina Hoffman

Charles Doolittle Walcott, Paleontologist

by Adina Hoffman

4 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	1968 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Word Wise	:	Enabled
Print length	:	520 pages

Early Life and Education

Charles Doolittle Walcott was born in New York Mills, New York, on March 31, 1850. He was the son of Benjamin Smith Walcott and Elizabeth Mariah Doolittle. Walcott's father was a successful businessman, and his mother was a devout Methodist. Walcott was raised in a religious household, and he attended Sunday school regularly.

Walcott showed an early interest in natural history. He began collecting fossils as a child, and he often took trips to the nearby Catskill Mountains to search for specimens. Walcott's interest in fossils continued to grow as he got older. He attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, where he studied engineering. However, Walcott's passion for paleontology led him to leave Rensselaer after two years.

Career

In 1876, Walcott joined the United States Geological Survey (USGS). He spent the next several years working on the survey's paleontology department. Walcott's work with the USGS took him to many different parts of the United States, including the Grand Canyon, the Black Hills, and the Rocky Mountains.

In 1888, Walcott was appointed director of the USGS. He served in this position for 24 years. During his tenure as director, Walcott oversaw the expansion of the USGS's paleontology department. He also helped to establish the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

Walcott's most important contribution to paleontology was his work on the Burgess Shale fossils. In 1909, Walcott discovered a fossil-rich deposit in the Canadian Rockies. The fossils in this deposit were unlike anything that had been seen before. They included the remains of soft-bodied animals that had lived during the Cambrian period, a time when life on Earth was just beginning to diversify.

Walcott's discovery of the Burgess Shale fossils helped to revolutionize our understanding of the evolution of life. The fossils showed that the Cambrian period was a time of great evolutionary change. They also provided important insights into the origins of the major animal groups that exist today.

Legacy

Charles Doolittle Walcott was one of the most important paleontologists of his time. His work on the Burgess Shale fossils helped to revolutionize our understanding of the evolution of life on Earth. Walcott's legacy continues to inspire paleontologists today.

Walcott died in Washington, D.C., on February 9, 1927. He was 76 years old.

Additional Resources

* [Charles Doolittle Walcott: A Biography](https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5962/bhl.title.48827) * [The Burgess Shale Fossils](https://www.burgess-shale.bc.ca/) * [The National Museum of Natural History](https://www.naturalhistory.si.edu/)

Charles Doolittle Walcott, Paleontologist

by Adina Hoffman

4 out of 5