I've just finished reading Carol Grant Gould’s outstanding 2004 biography of William Beebe (Island Press) - The Remarkable Life of William Beebe: Explorer and Naturalist.
I had never heard of Beebe before I began building the Collection, where he is currently represented by two books. Which is very sad - the man was a household name for decades and a giant as a scientist, explorer, author and, ultimately, conservationist - and he died only two years before I was born.
Beebe’s scientific and exploratory work was groundbreaking. He had a tremendous impact during his own time and on subsequent generations of naturalists and conservationists. His influence came from his personality, energy, infectious enthusiasm, and the curiosity he expressed as a prolific author, lecturer and mentor to dozens of scientists and important conservationists (think Rachel Carson, for example). He comes across as competent, effective and passionate.
Beebe was the bridge between the “gentlemen” naturalists of the 18th and 19th centuries and the experimental and experiential ecologists of the 20th century and beyond.
The title of the book is a good one. Beebe’s life was a remarkable one indeed.
Beebe developed his passion for the study of nature as a youth, so much so that at the age of 20 Beebe was sponsored by Frank Chapman for membership in the AOU - the professional ornithological union. He studied at Columbia University, splitting his time between college and the American Museum of Natural History. He left Columbia before earning his degree to become assistant curator of birds at the NY Zoological Park (aka the Bronx Zoo), recruited by Henry Fairfield Osborn, head of the AMNH and a professor at Columbia.
Beebe worked for the Zoological Society his entire career. As head of its Department of Tropical Research, he led dozens of months-long field studies. In early tropical work he pioneered the approach of studying all of the interactions and behavior of flora and fauna in a small, discrete area. This is now the standard method for ecological study.
Beebe is perhaps most famous for his marine exploratory work. He and Otis Barton were the first ever to make deep dives in a bathysphere - lowered to over 3,000 feet under the surface. The previous record was 563 feet. Gould’s description of the first deep dive in what was essentially experimental technology is gripping.
Beebe was a generalist, however. “He gloried in being once again ‘that thing barely tolerated by Ultimate Scientists - a naturalist.’” [Gould p. 336]. Beebe founded the field of tropical ecological studies and conducted groundbreaking work on birds, insects, butterflies, evolution, behavioral adaptation and other evolutionary principals, and of course various areas of marine biology. Some of his evolutionary theories were discounted until further supporting evidence emerged half a century later. His four-volume monograph on pheasants set a new standard in avian research.
Writes Gould: “Beebe’s over-arching belief that there can be no real knowledge of an organism without a concomitant understanding of its whole ecosystem was wholly new.” [p. 408]. That is more or less the definition of ecology in my book.
Beebe was a household name in America for decades. Hundreds of thousands of people listened to him speak live from the bathysphere on NBC radio. His many books, most written for general audiences, were often on the best seller list for months. He was a regular in the high society pages of newspapers, friends with luminaries from Teddy Roosevelt to Walt Disney, Katherine Hepburn to A.A. Milne. He wrote hundreds of scholarly papers and hundreds of popular magazine articles. He was the Bronx Zoo’s greatest promoter, and among is longest-ever tenured employees.
Beebe’s books and magazine articles inspired millions, from Rachel Carson and Sylvia Earle, who took one of Beebe’s books with her when she launched her own submersible, per Gould, to Edward O. Wilson and Jacques Cousteau. Carson writes, in the Acknowledgements section of The Edge of the Sea (1951): "My absorption in the mystery and meaning of the sea have been stimulated and the writing of this book aided by the friendship and encouragement of William Beebe."
Beebe mentored many young scientists on his expeditions, including many women. He had no patience for the prevailing idea that women’s physical and mental shortcomings precluded a scientific career. He also rejected the eugenic/social Darwinist beliefs of many of his early bosses and mentors including Osborn and Madison Grant.
As Gould writes: “Most important to Will, and to the wilderness he respected and loved, his passionate commitment…endure[s] in the great work of preserving what is left of the natural world.” His infectious passion for the natural environment “inspired a generation of ardent nature lovers…who support conservation efforts, his ideals and enthusiasm live in the progeny of his scientific life and in his pen.” [p. 411].
Beebe’s personal life was fascinating and somewhat titillating. His first marriage to Blair, whom he adored, ended abruptly when she divorced him and, a week later, married their close friend and neighbor (this was front-page news). He married Elswyth Thane, who became a successful author. They appear to have had an open marriage. Thane had no interest in Beebe’s expeditions. He had ongoing relationships with several proteges over the years.
The last of these proteges, prominent scientist Jocelyn Crane, who was fairly openly with Beebe for many years, inherited his papers (and half his money). Crane would allow nobody access to the personal papers until she persuaded Gould to write this biography, although she died before it was published.
Gould’s book is terrific. It moves forward seamlessly and almost relentlessly - not unlike her subject. In the Acknowledgements, Gould credits her editor for the “clarity and terseness” of the work. Good adjectives. I did not find the narrative to sag at any point.
Beebe’s Wikipedia page is quite long and well worth reading and appears to be based in large part on this book. Worth a read by anyone, but for anybody with real interest in the subject I could not recommend Gould’s book more highly - it is that entertaining.
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