ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the circuitous century-long history of Precambrian Paleobiology from its beginnings with Darwin’s 1859 statement of the problem to the breakthrough discoveries of 1965, a saga of ups and downs and starts and stops, and a history appreciably more convoluted than those unacquainted with the workings of science and the underpinnings of such paradigm shifts might otherwise imagine. Importantly, it illustrates how cultural biases (e.g., religious beliefs and international politics) affect scientific judgment and how the survival-based “me-first gene”– and its derived malady of “authoritative assertion” can derail progress. The story is simple, from Darwin’s statement of the problem, to Sir J.W. Dawson’s misinterpreted Eozoön Canadense (the “Dawn Animal of Canada” – a 40-year setback), to C.D. Walcott’s seminal findings, to Sir A.C. Seward’s authoritative putdown of Walcott’s discoveries (a 30-year setback), to the rejection of “Godless Commie” B.V. Timofeev’s findings of shale-preserved ancient fossils, to the paradigm-changing 1965 contributions of S.A. Tyler, E.S. Barghoorn, and Bill Schopf. To set the stage for the subsequent development of this science, the chapter also outlines Bill’s initial Honors thesis studies. Taken together, the narrative presents a prime example of the humanness of scientists and the way that science actually advances.
