2003
History of Geology Award

Ellis L. Yochelson
USGS and Smithsonian Institutuion
Retired

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Presented to Ellis L. Yochelson

 Citation by Michele L. Aldrich

In presenting Ellis L. Yochelson with the History of Geology Award for 2003, the Geological Society of America recognizes over four decades of scholarship. Ellis published his first work in the history of geology in 1960, but before that he had already established an impressive career in paleontology.

Ellis was born in Washington DC in 1928. He enrolled at the University of Kansas and the University of Maryland, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in geology in 1949, the Master of Science degree from Kansas in 1950, and Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1955. The most important even of his adult life occurred in 1950, when he married Sally Witt, who has anchored his professional and personal life ever since, including helping organize numerous scientific and historical meetings.

He was affiliated with the Paleontology and Stratigraphy Branch of the Unites States Geological Survey from 1952 to 1985, after which he served on WAE status, senior scientist emeritus, and volunteer ever since. During his USGS tenure, Ellis has been headquartered at the National Museum of Natural History, where he has served as Research Associate since 1967.

His Smithsonian connection resulted in historical as well as scientific achievements, reflected in his advice on the content and narrative text of several exhibits. Ellis had also taught at American University, George Washington University, University of Maryland and University of Delaware. He has been active in promoting science education in the schools in Washington DC and Princes Georges County in Maryland.

As a paleontologist, Ellis specializes in gastropods and trace fossils. Like other successful paleontologists, he has an uncanny ability to sense which field localities are apt to yield specimens, just as good historians develop an intuition for which manuscript collections to search (although both phenomena may be self-fulfilling prophecies, of course). Anyone who has done fieldwork with Ellis can attest to his enthusiasm for the science - friends had to drag him off a Northern California beach where, for the first time, he saw masses of by-the-wind sailors, creatures whose relatives he knew well from traces in the fossil record.

His field work led Ellis to undertake significant overseas travel. He has visited Norway several times but his most exotic expedition was to the Ellsmere Mountains (Antarctica) in 1979-1980, which resulted in a record number of slide trays with which to wow his audiences, the most remarkable being a half carousel of white-out slides akin to the monochrome paintings of Robert Rauchenberg.

Ellis is noteworthy for his energetic activities in professional groups to support paleontology and history of geology through the sponsorship of symposia and the publication of books and articles. He has served as an officer in several paleontological organizations, including President of the Paleontology Society in 1975. He was a cofounder of the History of Earth Sciences Society, persuading people that it was crucial to have such a group to support Gerry Friedman's journal, Earth Sciences History. Ellis was secretary treasurer of HESS in 1982 - 1984 and President in 1989.

Officially connected to the organizing body of the USGS Centennial during 1975-1979 but unofficially active in planning long before that, Ellis is responsible for much of the scholarly luster that shined from that event, making it a time for cerebration as well as celebration. He has also advised Canada and the states of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia on anniversaries of their geological surveys. He also actively promoted history of earth science as part of the Smithsonian Institution's recent 150th anniversary, most notably through sessions at the North American Paleontology Conference held in Washington DC that year.

But it is primarily for his scholarly achievements in the history of geology that the Division is honoring him today. His first publication on the topic was a biographical sketch in 1960 of J. B. Knight. Ellis's seventy page biography of Charles Doolittle Walcott appeared as a National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir in 1968; this is an analytic piece on Walcott's scientific and administrative life based in part on Walcott's papers, not the usual blah commemorative essay that appears in this series.

His interest in biography has continued through essays on geologists in the Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Dictionary of American Biography, and American National Biography. These series have very high editorial standards for accuracy, and demand the ability to compress lifetimes of scientific achievement into a few pages. Ellis is also an accomplished book reviewer for scientific and historical journals, submitting fair-minded work on time, of the right length, and properly formatted.

Ellis has written and edited several items of great use to our field. He coauthored Images of the USGS with Cliff Nelson in 1979; 15,000 copies of this 56 page booklet were issued. Ellis produced a history of the National Museum of Natural History building in 1984 in celebration of its 75th anniversary, a topic to which he has returned several times. In 1980, he edited a GSA Special Paper on the ideas of Grove Karl Gilbert, and in 1982 he coedited Frontiers of Geological Exploration of North America, arising from a USGS centennial symposium held in Idaho.

But this award is given mainly in recognition of Ellis's massive two volume biopgraphy of Charles D. Walcott. For three decades, Ellis shared his research on Walcott through papers at scientific meetings as he worked on this opus. This gave him feedback on all aspects of Walcott's life. We have had Walcott sliced, diced, curried, chicken-fried, sauted, sweet and sour, mole, marsala, Florentine, hash, stew, and Walcott Wellington. A history of geology session was incomplete without a Yochelson paper on some aspect of Walcott. This has led to the definitive work on the man, but at a price - the manuscript was much too long. Tom Dutro said to cut it. John Pojeta said to cut it. Alan Leviton said to cut it. Most important, the published, Kent State Press, said to cut it - in half. In despair, Ellis said he could not part with another word and asked me to look at it. I chopped out about a third of the first several chapters and told him he could see how to do the rest. He accepted about half my suggestions, and Kent State Press went to print with it.

The book has many merits, but I will mention only two here. First, Ellis dealt masterfully with Stephen Jay Gould's presentist attack on Walcott's work on the Burgess Shale fauna. Instead of a wild ad-hominem counter-attack, Ellis stuck to the issues and laid out exactly what Walcott did accomplish. Second, the biography places Walcott in his historical context. Ellis explains Walcott's continued administrative service as reflecting the Progressive vision of science as a way to solve human problems. While there are many disjunctions between Ellis and Walcott (Ellis has never been noted for his patience with bureaucracy despite or perhaps because of his life in Washington DC), they shared a faith that science could be a force for good on this earth.

 Response by Ellis L. Yochelson

Because of "Oscar" Awards, public acknowledging is a well-known activity, and it is virtually impossible to prevent becoming a cliché. As a change, I will skip through the alphabet acknowledging a few people and places. The list is a small sample of the many to whom appreciation should be rendered.

Z - for Karl von Zittel, a chronicler of history of geology.

Y - is for three Yochelson kids, an investment which has paid grandchild dividends.

X - for Latin "Ex" (strange) as in expert and "spurt" as in a drip under pressure-my feeling now surrounded by my peers and betters.

W - for the late Alexander Wetmore, who presented opportunity and challenge to consider the life of Walcott.

V - for varied, as in my publication record (also eclectic or disorganized) .

U - for USGS for which I worked hard, but also stole time to do important things.

T - for Taylor, Ken, an exemplar for any history of science graduate student who aspires toward earth sciences.

S - for Sally who has put up with an incredible amount of aggravation for an incredible number of years; (not all aggravation is from history of geology).

R - for retirement; (with the formerly generous plan of the government this was my best career move).

Q - to be forgotten; (quest for knowledge is too dorky to include).

P - for publication, carrying with it certainty of mistakes; (the way to avoid them is not to publish, which is the biggest mistake).

O - for opportunity, granted me by many people for more than five decades.

N - for the Natural History Library, its librarians and all other libraries and librarians consulted; my appreciation includes archives and archivists.

M - for George Perkins Merrill, the ultimate source of why we are gathered.

L - for Leviton, Al, who provided unexpected opportunities to talk and publish.

K - for Kent State University Press, who actually sent a royalty check, which averaged out to $1.26 per year of investigation/writing, but moved me from mere author to professional writer.

J - to be ignored; (older son Jeffrey forced me from my KayPro to a real computer).

I - for Institution, Smithsonian (the "S" is for a more important purpose), for providing research associateship and for its archival staff.

H - for History of Geology Division and what more can I state other than THANKS!

G - for Gastropoda, the fossils of which provided my toehold into geology.

F - for Friedman, Gerald (and Sue) who made Earth Sciences History both evolve and progress.

E - for evaluation, as in book review, some of which make you quell with joy and others make you quake with dismay.

D - for deadline, a devise of fiendish editors - an oxymoron - and, because the world is not fair, who are always right.

C - for Claude Albritton, a senior man who went out of his way to be gracious to a greenhorn.

B - for Bork, Kenneth, who should know already why he is appreciated.

A - for Aldrich, Michele, who went through a book- length manuscript with both fine-tooth comb and hobnail boots, yet, despite all, was willing to be a citationist.

I appreciate this honor more than I can express. Insufficient as is the letter "H, conversely it conveys my all.