The Complicated Legacy of Lynn Margulis

The world of microscopy is not without its own controversial figures, today we’re discussing Lynn Margulis and her contributions to the world of science as well as some of her more harmful beliefs.

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[Phoenix]

Growing up Jehovah's Witness I dimly recall a quote by Lynn Margulis about Darwin's Origin Of Species that was taken out of context. She apparently had said Darwin's book utterly fails to explain how species originate, casting doubt on evolution itself. It wasn't until I was out of the religion that I discovered she meant Darwin didn't (and could not) take endosymbiosis into account. That's all she meant in the context of that quote.

[jbaidley]

Great video. It's nice to see someone discussing Lynn Margulis in this more nuanced way.

[Jskid]

My HS Bio professor actually knew and was an acquaintance of Lynn Margulis's and that is my lame claim to fame.

[svendbosanvovski]

Lynn Margulis was the original wonder woman. She raised four children, and as a single mother worked at two jobs in different cities while completing her post graduate work and writing a book.

[rotifer]

*3 guarantees in the microbial life cycle:*

*1. Death*
*2. Mitosis*
*3. Being excited for another upload from Journey to the Microcosmos.*

[chironOwlglass]

One thing I love about this channel, as well as Eons and many similar channels involving some of the same people, is the dedication to nuance. People are incredibly complex, and people can be brilliant and totally ahead of their time in some ways and just dead wrong in other ways. It's almost like the more talent someone has in one regard, the bigger their inevitable blind spot will be. That's why community is so important - we all have different strengths and weaknesses that balance each other out when we work together! So that's why humility is such an important virtue, because it is always the case that you could simply be wrong, despite your best efforts to understand something.

[justinbent]

Fun fact about Margulis' personal life: she was actually married to Carl Sagan for a while.

[Dighs]

Poor Dorion, son of the God of Astronomy and the Goddess of Symbiosys, must hurt his back to carry such great legacy.

[LouisGedo]

10:02
"Vampyrella"? Come on guys, let's see more of this interestingly named little critter!

[maol]

I took grade 11 Bio a couple years ago and we are still taught that endosymbiosis is only very probably true

[evelynwall]

Dear Hank, back in the day I performed an experiment investigating the origins of mitochondria. I did this work at the University of Montana, A place I'm sure you're quite familiar with. Dr. Margie Kinnersly was the experiments designer and in fact she is still on campus as of now. I would strongly encourage you to speak with her or even I if you'd like to dig a little deeper into mitochondriogenesis. Both Margie and I are still in Missoula and though I can't speak for Margie, I would love to chat with you about your love of major evolutionary transitions and neat novel theories that have shown up from time to time.
with love
Evelyn Wall

[mmorley]

Its very interesting to hear about the work microbiologists have done for the field! Can you do more episodes on interesting scientists like her in the future?

[vickylikesthis]

I really appreciate this thought provoking reminder on the scientific process

[giabea.]

I just finished the second year of my Biology undergrad and endosymbiosis is taught as being true

[thebears]

I wonder if she would have been less stubborn later in life if only she had not faced decades of hostility, much of it rooted in sexism. Of course, there are plenty of other women in science who faced similar hardships and didn't turn out as contrarian as Margulis. I don't mean this as a defence of her pernicious positions. But I can imagine that, if I spend the best part of my life trying to convince people about the validity of theories that do turn out to be true, one of the lessons I learn is that sometimes one has to insist against all odds in order not to be unjustly silenced. And that can get so behaviourally engrained it might end up getting the better of me. By the way, I recently watched the documentary 'Symbiotic Earth' on her work and legacy (it's on Vimeo). It paints her in an overall much more positive light and (from what I remember) glosses over later controversies (it does mention some of her theories were wrong, but I don't recall it saying much about her HIV denial). It still makes for a fascinating watch. Whatever your opinion of her opinions, she was an extraordinary scientist, and her perseverance is inspiring (as long as it doesn't turn into imperviousness to reasonable doubt). Her legacy is also important in feminist materialist philosophy.

[philtkaswahl]

Introduced female cousin to this channel. Her response?

"This is the first time I've gotten a crush on a voice."

:D

[pickaxingoneuropa]

It was rejected 12 times and SHE STILL KEPT AT IT?! What a hero!

[arnbrandy]

That was an especially awesome video, so human and instructive. Thank you for this, and congratulations!

[dustinmcclure]

BEST CHANNEL EVER. will someone pay for college for me so i can do microbiology instead of cook for minimum wage at 30 years old? lol

[ruthhartling]

She was a professor in my doctoral program at UMass Amherst and I took a class from her in the early 90's. She could certainly be forceful and abrasive, but if you raised an interesting point on a topic that she cared about, she treated you like a colleague, not a student. And I have never encountered anyone else with such breadth of knowledge across the natural sciences. I do wonder what she would have been like if she hadn't dealt with so much disparagement and abuse as a young scientist. A high level of stubborn tenacity was a survival skill and absolutely necessary for what she achieved in the 60's and 70's, but it was a double-edged sword. A complicated legacy, indeed, but I was deeply saddened to hear of her passing in 2011.