October 2002 AGGMAN Geology

Thomas Jefferson: Presidential Paleontologist

No bones about it, the nation’s third president took a serious interest in science

When it comes to science in the days of the Founding Fathers, one of the names that stands out is Thomas Jefferson, drafter of the Declaration of Independence and third president of the United States. Jefferson was interested in all branches of science, but he was an enthusiastic, highly appreciative, intelligent amateur, rather than a professional scientist. He wrote that politics was his duty, natural history was his passion. He filled his house with books on almost every aspect of science, and fossils and minerals were mingled with tapestries and sculptures.
To Jefferson, science was utilitarian — science might find the solution to social and political problems. Paleontology seems to have been one of his main interests in the geological sciences. Jefferson contributed reports and specimens to the American Philosophical Society, was elected a member in 1786, and became its president in 1797.
During 1785, Jefferson published his most impressive scientific achievement — “Notes on the State of Virginia.” That book is perhaps the most important scientific and political book written by an American up until that time. “QUERY [Chapter] VI - A notice of the mines and other subterraneous riches; its trees, plants, fruits, etc.” contains detailed descriptions of the occurrences of gold, lead, iron, copper, coal, limestone, building stone, salt, and so forth in Virginia. Those descriptions are what drew me to the book. But what, to me, was the most fascinating part of “Notes” was Jefferson’s refutation of a pernicious claim by the Frenchman, Comte de Buffon.
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788), was an eminent naturalist of the time and was one of the first people to question 2,000 years of dogma. One hundred years before Darwin, Leclerc wrestled with the similarities of humans and apes and even talked about common ancestry of man and apes. He speculated on the origin of the Earth, suggesting that it might have been created by the collision of a comet with the sun. He also openly suggested that, based on the cooling rate of iron, the age of the Earth was 75,000 years, much older than the 6,000 years proclaimed by the church at the time. His monumental life’s work, a 44-volume encyclopedia Historie Naturelle (Natural History), was published in stages between 1749 and 1804.
The problem was that the Comte de Buffon, in his Historie Naturelle, claimed that animals and human beings native to North America were physiologically and intellectually inferior to their European counterparts and that human beings as well as livestock transported from the Old World to the New World would degenerate after living in America. Jefferson wrote in his book that Buffon believed “la nature vivante est beaucoup moins agissante, beaucoup moins forte” (that nature is less active, less energetic on one side of the globe than she is on the other). It was important for the future development of America that an end be put to this belief. Jefferson accepted the challenge and used science to address this highly political issue.
In his book, Jefferson presented a lengthy refutation of Buffon’s hypothesis with evidence that animals are actually larger in America than in Europe. He included a table comparing the sizes of animals in America versus Europe and showed that many animals, including the beaver, the otter, and shrewmouse, are larger in America than Europe. But Jefferson’s most convincing evidence was the mastodon, or mammoth; Europe had produced no animal to match this behemoth.
Jefferson was head of the American Philosophical Society in 1801 when that organization financed the excavation of mastodon bones in Ulster County, N.Y. Even though Jefferson was waging his campaign for the presidency, he carried on learned correspondence about the fossils.
Jefferson put forth the theory that there was a large herd of mammoths wandering wild in the Mississippi Valley, which was one of the reasons he, as president of the United States of America, sponsored the Lewis and Clark expedition to the West. Jefferson noted in his instructions to Meriwether Lewis (1803), in preparation for the expedition, the importance of recording “the animals of the country generally, and especially those not known in the U.S.; the remains and accounts of any of which may be deemed rare or extinct…”
In 1808, Jefferson sent mammoth bones, rams’ horns, and a mountain goat skin to Monsieur Lacepede (Buffon’s successor) as contributions to the National Institute in Paris. However, his shipment may not have been entirely altruistic; it was a final salvo in his political/scientific war. Jefferson kept a few choice specimens for his Monticello museum — perhaps to serve as trophies of his private victory in the battle of New World versus Old.
Jefferson’s interest in paleontology often brought him ridicule and the wrath of his political opponents to whom scientific investigation meant neglect of one’s proper duties. “Mr. Mammoth” as Jefferson was nicknamed, was even roasted for his delight in fossils by 13-year-old poet William Cullen Bryant:
Go, wretch, resign the presidential chair,
Disclose thy secret measures, foul or fair.
Go, search with curious eye, for horned frogs,
Mid the wild wastes of Louisianian bogs;
Or, where Ohio rolls his turbid stream,
Dig for huge bones, thy glory and thy theme.

Looking back, Thomas Jefferson was one of the few presidents with any serious claim to scientific expertise. Jefferson’s outspoken and excited interest in paleontology while president helped to make paleontology a respectable and honored pursuit. President John F. Kennedy, on the occasion of a dinner to honor some recipients of the Nobel Prize, addressed his guests as “the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”

William H. Langer is a geologist with the Mineral Resources Team of the U.S. Geological Survey.

October 2002 Carved in Stone Thomas Jefferson: Presidential Paleontologist				Thomas Jefferson: Presidential Paleontologist No bones about it, the nation’s third president took a serious interest in science By Bill Langer When it comes to science in the days of the Founding Fathers, one of the names that stands out is Thomas Jefferson, drafter of the Declaration of Independence and third president of the United States. Jefferson was interested in all branches of science, but he was an enthusiastic, highly appreciative, intelligent amateur, rather than a professional scientist. He wrote that politics was his duty, natural history was his passion. He filled his house with books on almost every aspect of science, and fossils and minerals were mingled with tapestries and sculptures. To Jefferson, science was utilitarian — science might find the solution to social and political problems. Paleontology seems to have been one of his main interests in the geological sciences. Jefferson contributed reports and specimens to the American Philosophical Society, was elected a member in 1786, and became its president in 1797. During 1785, Jefferson published his most impressive scientific achievement — “Notes on the State of Virginia.” That book is perhaps the most important scientific and political book written by an American up until that time. “QUERY [Chapter] VI - A notice of the mines and other subterraneous riches; its trees, plants, fruits, etc.” contains detailed descriptions of the occurrences of gold, lead, iron, copper, coal, limestone, building stone, salt, and so forth in Virginia. Those descriptions are what drew me to the book. But what, to me, was the most fascinating part of “Notes” was Jefferson’s refutation of a pernicious claim by the Frenchman, Comte de Buffon. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788), was an eminent naturalist of the time and was one of the first people to question 2,000 years of dogma. One hundred years before Darwin, Leclerc wrestled with the similarities of humans and apes and even talked about common ancestry of man and apes. He speculated on the origin of the Earth, suggesting that it might have been created by the collision of a comet with the sun. He also openly suggested that, based on the cooling rate of iron, the age of the Earth was 75,000 years, much older than the 6,000 years proclaimed by the church at the time. His monumental life’s work, a 44-volume encyclopedia Historie Naturelle (Natural History), was published in stages between 1749 and 1804. The problem was that the Comte de Buffon, in his Historie Naturelle, claimed that animals and human beings native to North America were physiologically and intellectually inferior to their European counterparts and that human beings as well as livestock transported from the Old World to the New World would degenerate after living in America. Jefferson wrote in his book that Buffon believed “la nature vivante est beaucoup moins agissante, beaucoup moins forte” (that nature is less active, less energetic on one side of the globe than she is on the other). It was important for the future development of America that an end be put to this belief. Jefferson accepted the challenge and used science to address this highly political issue. In his book, Jefferson presented a lengthy refutation of Buffon’s hypothesis with evidence that animals are actually larger in America than in Europe. He included a table comparing the sizes of animals in America versus Europe and showed that many animals, including the beaver, the otter, and shrewmouse, are larger in America than Europe. But Jefferson’s most convincing evidence was the mastodon, or mammoth; Europe had produced no animal to match this behemoth. Jefferson was head of the American Philosophical Society in 1801 when that organization financed the excavation of mastodon bones in Ulster County, N.Y. Even though Jefferson was waging his campaign for the presidency, he carried on learned correspondence about the fossils. Jefferson put forth the theory that there was a large herd of mammoths wandering wild in the Mississippi Valley, which was one of the reasons he, as president of the United States of America, sponsored the Lewis and Clark expedition to the West. Jefferson noted in his instructions to Meriwether Lewis (1803), in preparation for the expedition, the importance of recording “the animals of the country generally, and especially those not known in the U.S.; the remains and accounts of any of which may be deemed rare or extinct…” In 1808, Jefferson sent mammoth bones, rams’ horns, and a mountain goat skin to Monsieur Lacepede (Buffon’s successor) as contributions to the National Institute in Paris. However, his shipment may not have been entirely altruistic; it was a final salvo in his political/scientific war. Jefferson kept a few choice specimens for his Monticello museum — perhaps to serve as trophies of his private victory in the battle of New World versus Old. Jefferson’s interest in paleontology often brought him ridicule and the wrath of his political opponents to whom scientific investigation meant neglect of one’s proper duties. “Mr. Mammoth” as Jefferson was nicknamed, was even roasted for his delight in fossils by 13-year-old poet William Cullen Bryant: Go, wretch, resign the presidential chair, Disclose thy secret measures, foul or fair. Go, search with curious eye, for horned frogs, Mid the wild wastes of Louisianian bogs; Or, where Ohio rolls his turbid stream, Dig for huge bones, thy glory and thy theme. Looking back, Thomas Jefferson was one of the few presidents with any serious claim to scientific expertise. Jefferson’s outspoken and excited interest in paleontology while president helped to make paleontology a respectable and honored pursuit. President John F. Kennedy, on the occasion of a dinner to honor some recipients of the Nobel Prize, addressed his guests as “the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.” William H. Langer is a geologist with the Mineral Resources Team of the U.S. Geological Survey.