HOUSTON,Texas—While visiting the
Lucy’s Legacy exhibit at the Houston
Museum of Natural Science, students from
Houston’s Post Oak Middle School were so
enthralled by a video interview with Dr.
Donald Johanson that they contacted him and
asked to meet with him
in person. Johanson
arranged a meeting with
the seventh and eighth
graders at the exhibit on
November 6.
Some may question
why such a dishguished
scientist would take
time out for kids, but
one would only need to read a biography of
Johanson to understand why he made time.
Johanson was told by his high school
guidance counselor to forget about going to
college. The only son of a widowed immigrant
mother who worked as a cleaning lady,
Johanson had done so poorly on his SATs that
the counselor did not believe he was capable
of performing college-level work. Johanson
ignored the counselor’s advice, pursued higher
education, and won his Ph.D. in anthropology
from the University of Chicago. Within a
year of earning his doctorate, he made news
around the world with a discovery that dramatically
altered our understanding of human
evolution. The fossilized bones of a creature
Johanson called Lucy constitute the oldest,
most complete specimen of an extinct species
which was not human, but from which the
human race may be descended.*
Today, Johanson is Director of the
Institute of Human Origins (IHO) at Arizona
State University in Tempe, Arizona. IHO conducts,
interprets and publicizes scientific
research on the human career. IHO’s unique
approach brings together scientists from
diverse disciplines to develop integrated, biobehavioral
investigations of human evolution.
Through research, education, and the sponsorship
of scholarly interaction, IHO
advances scientific understanding of our origins
and its contemporary relevance.
Combining interdisciplinary expertise and
targeted funding, IHO fosters the pursuit of
integrated solutions to the most important
questions regarding the course, cause and timing
of events in human evolution.**
While Johanson’s interpretation of his discoveries
has provoked controversy in scientific
circles, Johanson has become one of the
dominant figures in the world of paleoanthropology,
and his books and television
appearances have given a mass audience a
tantalizing glimpse of the mysterious origin
of our species.*
Gulfscapes Magazine was able to interview
Johanson during his visit to Houston to
meet with the students at the museum.
Why is it important for you to come
and speak with students at functions such
as these? How much more curious and openminded
are children than most of us adults? It
is vital that this openness and curiosity be
rewarded. I find that when I speak with children
they expand my mind and ask questions
I have never entertained as a scientist.
Children stimulate me to think in ways I never
have. It is vital to honor them and teach them
that no question is “stupid,” and their ideas
are respected.
Why is it important for students to
learn about Lucy? Children need to be
exposed to all knowledge and learn that there
are objective and subjective views. Science
teaches us ways to objectively explore and
question the natural world around us. The evidence
for evolution is very important not only
for understanding our origins, but the entire
biological world that surrounds us. When
children realize that we, human beings, are
part of the natural world, a product of the natural
world, they will work harder to conserve
nature and honor the very world that created
us. Lucy connects us to that world...she is a
reminder of our intimate relationship to planet
earth...
What impact is there on a student when
he or she is able to meet with distinguished
individuals like yourself? We were all children,
we have all dreamed of becoming something...
a scientist, a scholar, a Wimbledon
winner, a tv star, a movie actor, or whatever.
We are all told as children that it is impossible,
but when we meet someone (like me)
who had humble beginnings, a dream, a goal,
and after years of hard work and dedication,
we have realized our goals, in spite of everyone
telling us that we can never hope to
achieve them, it inspires. Children need to be
heard, they need to have an opportunity to
question and to be given the hope that no matter
what dream they have, they too, can walk
on the moon someday ...
The Lucy’s Legacy exhibit will be on display
at the Houston Museum of Natural
Science through April 27, 2008.
* Information provided by www.achievement.org ** Information by www.becominghuman.org
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