View source for Peter Ward (paleontologist)

{{short description|American paleontologist}}

{{other people|Peter Ward}}

{{Infobox scientist
| name                    = Peter D. Ward
| image                   = 
| image_size              = 
| caption                 = 
| birth_name              = Peter Douglas Ward
| birth_date              = May 12, 1949
| birth_place             = [[Seattle]], United States of America
| citizenship             = 
| nationality             = American
| field                   = [[Paleontology]], [[Biology]], [[Astrobiology]]
| work_institution        = 
| alma_mater              = 
| doctoral_advisor        = 
| doctoral_students       = 
| known_for               = co-originator of the term ''[[Rare Earth Hypothesis|Rare Earth]]''<ref name=Williams2020-07-29-01a/><br />
work on the [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event]]<ref name="dietrich"/>
| author_abbreviation_bot = 
| author_abbreviation_zoo = 
| prizes                  = 
| footnotes               = 
}}

'''Peter Douglas Ward''' (born May 12, 1949<ref>{{cite web |title=Peter Ward |url=https://savethenautilus.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/CVWard2013e.pdf |website=Save the Nautilus |access-date=3 August 2023}}</ref>) is an American [[paleontologist]] and professor at the University of Washington, Seattle, and Sprigg Institute of Geobiology at the [[University of Adelaide]]. He has written numerous popular science works for a general audience and is also an adviser to the Microbes Mind Forum.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://microbes-mind.net/advisers.html|title=Advisers, Microbe Mind Forum|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228170953/http://microbes-mind.net/advisers.html|archive-date=2014-02-28}}</ref> In 2000, along with his co-author [[Donald E. Brownlee]], he co-originated the term ''[[Rare Earth Hypothesis|Rare Earth]]''<ref name=Williams2020-07-29-01a>{{cite web|url=https://www.gazzetta.it/Giroditalia/2014/download/Regolamento_Ing.pdf/|author=Matt Williams|publisher=[[Universe Today]]|title=Beyond "Fermi's Paradox" IV: What is the Rare Earth Hypothesis?|date=29 July 2020|access-date=6 June 2021|quote=Origins: The term "Rare Earth" takes its name from the book Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe (2000), by Peter Ward and Donald E. Brownlee ... As the authors describe it, the Rare Earth argument comes down to two central hypotheses ... making Earth a very special place}}</ref> and developed the [[Medea hypothesis]] alleging that multicellular life is ultimately self-destructive.<ref name="DarkGreen"/>

== Life and work ==
His parents, Joseph and Ruth Ward, moved to [[Seattle]] following [[World War II]]. Ward grew up in the [[Seward Park, Seattle|Seward Park]] neighborhood of Seattle, attending [[Franklin High School (Seattle, Washington)|Franklin High School]], and he spent time during summers at a family summer cabin on [[Orcas Island]].<ref name="dietrich">{{cite news|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20051209/pacificpeter11/prophet-populist-poet-of-science |title=Prophet, Populist, Poet of Science |last=Dietrich |first=William |date=2005-12-09 |work=Pacific Northwest Magazine |access-date=26 October 2010|quote= After initially doubting that a comet killed the dinosaurs and allowing that an impact might have ended the Permian age, he reconsidered both stands — coming up with a non-comet ending to the Permian and then producing some of the clearest fossil-record evidence (the extinction of a marine creature called an ammonite) to prove the dinosaur calamity actually happened.}}</ref>

Ward's academic career has included teaching posts and professional connections with [[Ohio State University]], the [[NASA Astrobiology Institute]], the [[University of California]], [[McMaster University]] (where he received his Ph.D. in 1976), and the [[California Institute of Technology]]. He was elected as a Fellow of the [[California Academy of Sciences]] in 1984.

Ward specializes in the [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event]], the [[Permian–Triassic extinction event]],<ref name="dietrich"/> and [[mass extinction]]s generally. He has published books on [[biodiversity]] and the [[fossil record]]. His 1992 book ''On Methuselah's Trail'' received a "Golden Trilobite Award" from the [[Paleontological Society]] as the best popular science book of the year. Ward also serves as an adjunct professor of [[zoology]] and [[astronomy]].

His book ''The End of Evolution'' was published in 1994. In it, he discussed in three parts, each about an extinction event on earth. This book was rewritten and published in 2000 as ''Rivers in Time''.

Ward is co-author, along with astronomer [[Donald E. Brownlee|Donald Brownlee]], of the best-selling ''[[Rare Earth (book)|Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe]]'', published in 2000, thereby co-originating the term ''[[Rare Earth Hypothesis|Rare Earth]]''.<ref name=Williams2020-07-29-01a/> In that work, the authors suggest that the universe is fundamentally hostile to advanced life, and that, while simple life might be abundant, the likelihood of widespread lifeforms as advanced as those on Earth is marginal. In 2001, his book ''[[Future Evolution]]'' was published, featuring illustrations by artist [[Alexis Rockman]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dir.salon.com/story/books/review/2002/01/29/ward/index.html |title="Future Evolution" by Peter Ward |last=Motluk |first=Alison |work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]] |date=2002-01-29 |access-date=2010-10-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329050641/http://dir.salon.com/story/books/review/2002/01/29/ward/index.html |archive-date=2010-03-29 }}</ref><ref name="npr">{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1140323 |title=Anthropology Update/ Future Evolution |work=[[Talk of the Nation]] |date=2002-03-22 |publisher=[[National Public Radio]] |access-date=2010-10-19}}</ref>

Ward and Brownlee are also co-authors of the book ''[[The Life and Death of Planet Earth]]'', which discusses the Earth's future and eventual demise as it is ultimately destroyed by a warming and expanding Sun. The book picks up where ''Rare Earth'' leaves off, this time talking about how and why the Earth and its ability to support complex and especially intelligent life is actually not just rare in space, but also in time. See also [[Future of the Earth]].

According to Ward's 2007 book, ''Under a Green Sky: Global Warming, the Mass Extinctions of the Past, and What They Can Tell Us About Our Future'',<ref>{{cite book
|last=Ward
|first=  Peter Douglas 
|title=  Under a Green Sky: Global Warming, the Mass Extinctions of the Past, and What They Can Tell Us About Our Future
|year=2007
|location=New York 
|publisher=Smithsonian Books/Collins
|oclc=224875122
}}
*{{cite magazine |author=Christopher Cokinos |date=July–August 2007 |title=Under a Green Sky |magazine=Orion |type=Review |url=http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/review/325 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023071046/http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/review/325/ |archive-date=2007-10-23}}
</ref> all but one of the major mass extinction events in history have been brought on by climate change. The author argues that events in the past can give valuable information about the future of our planet. Reviewer Doug Brown goes further, stating "this is how the world ends." Scientists at the Universities of York and Leeds also warn that the fossil record supports evidence of impending mass extinction. Recently, Ward has slowly started to shift his interest toward climate change because of his experiences with studying mass extinctions, as well as justifying why intelligent life, including humanity, is especially even rarer than complex life in general in terms of both space and time, as intelligent life only lasts for just a few thousand years before finally collapsing and going extinct, as seen in the book ''The Flooded Earth: Our Future in a World Without Ice Caps,'' which documents the effects of ongoing and future [[man-made climate change]]. However, in 2014, Ward returned to his roots as a paleontologist with his book ''A New History of Life'', co-authored with [[Joe Kirschvink]], and in his 2018 book, ''Lamarck's Revenge''.

Ward is the father of indie musician and producer Nick Ward of the Seattle band [[Hey Marseilles]].

==Medea hypothesis==
{{Main|Medea hypothesis}}

The '''Medea hypothesis''' is a term coined by Ward for a hypothesis that contests the [[Gaia hypothesis|Gaian hypothesis]], proposing that [[multicellular life]], understood as a [[superorganism]], is self-destructive or [[Evolutionary suicide|suicidal]], allowing a return to simpler life-forms.<ref name="DarkGreen">{{cite news | url=http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/01/11/dark_green/?page=1 | title=Dark green. A scientist argues that the natural world isn't benevolent and sustaining: it's bent on self-destruction | work=[[Boston Globe]] | date=January 11, 2009 | access-date=October 21, 2012 | author=Bennett, Drake}}</ref><ref>
{{cite conference
 | title = Peter Ward speaker profile
 | conference = [[TED (conference)|TED]]
 | url = http://www.ted.com/index.php/speakers/peter_ward.html
 | access-date = 2009-02-27
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite news
| last        = D'Arconte
| date        = February 10, 2009
| work        = [[The Sun Chronicle]]
| title       = Is Mother Nature nuts?
| access-date  = 2009-02-27
| url         = http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2009/02/21/columns/4367393.txt
}}
</ref>

==Appearances==

Peter Ward was featured in the [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]]'s ''[[Evolution (TV series)|Evolution]]'' series (2001) to discuss the evidence for evolution in the geologic record and has appeared on ''[[NOVA scienceNOW]]''.
He was also one of the scientists on [[Animal Planet]]'s ''[[Animal Armageddon]] ''(2009). Ward is also a guest on ''[[Coast to Coast AM]]'', a radio program that mostly specializes on paranormal activity and other unexplained phenomena.<ref name="coasttocoast">{{cite web | title = Guests: Peter Ward | website = Coast to Coast AM | url = https://www.coasttocoastam.com/guest/ward-peter-6323/ | access-date = 1 June 2021}}</ref>

==Selected works==

=== Books ===
* ''In Search of Nautilus: Three Centuries of Scientific Adventures in the Deep Pacific to Capture a Prehistoric, Living Fossil'' (1988) {{ISBN|978-0-671-61951-0}} OCLC 17840660
* ''On Methuselah's Trail: Living Fossils and the Great Extinctions'' (1992) {{ISBN|978-0-7167-2488-9}}
* ''The Call of Distant Mammoths: Why the Ice Age Mammals Disappeared'' (1997) {{ISBN|978-0-387-98572-5}}
* ''Time Machines: Scientific Exploration of Deep Time'' (1998) {{ISBN|978-0-387-98416-2}}
* ''Rivers in Time: the Search for Clues to Earth's Mass Extinctions'' (2000) {{ISBN|978-0-231-11862-0}}
* ''Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe'' with Donald Brownlee (2000) {{ISBN|978-0-387-95289-5}}
* ''Future Evolution: An Illuminated History of Life to Come'' (2001) {{ISBN|978-0-7167-3496-3}}
* ''The Life and Death of Planet Earth: How the New Science of Astrobiology Charts the Ultimate Fate of Our World'' with Donald Brownlee (2003) {{ISBN|978-0-8050-7512-0}}
* ''Gorgon: Obsession, Paleontology, and the Greatest Catastrophe in Earth's History'' (2004) {{ISBN|978-0-670-03094-1}}
* ''Life as We Do Not Know It: The NASA Search for (and Synthesis of) Alien Life'' (2005) {{ISBN|0-670-03458-4}}
* ''Out of Thin Air: Dinosaurs, Birds, and Earth's Ancient Atmosphere'' (2006) {{ISBN|0-309-10061-5}}
* ''Under a Green Sky: Global Warming, the Mass Extinctions of the Past, and What They Can Tell Us About Our Future'' (2007) {{ISBN|978-0-06-113791-4}}
* ''The Medea Hypothesis: Is Life on Earth Ultimately Self-Destructive?'' (2009) {{ISBN|0-691-13075-2}}
* ''The Flooded Earth: Our Future In a World Without Ice Caps'' (2010) {{ISBN|978-0-465-00949-7}}
* ''A New History of Life: The radical new discoveries about the origins and evolution of life on Earth'' with Joe Kirschvink (2015) {{ISBN|978-1608199075}}
* ''Lamarck's Revenge: How Epigenetics Is Revolutionizing Our Evolution's Past and Present'' (2018) {{ISBN|9781632866172}}

=== Journal articles ===

* {{Cite journal |last=Ward |first=Peter D. |last2=Hurtado |first2=José M. |last3=Kirschvink |first3=Joseph L. |last4=Verosub |first4=Kenneth L. |date=12 September 1997 |title=Measurements of the Cretaceous Paleolatitude of Vancouver Island: Consistent with the Baja-British Columbia Hypothesis |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.277.5332.1642 |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |language=en |volume=277 |issue=5332 |pages=1642–1645 |doi=10.1126/science.277.5332.1642 |issn=0036-8075}}

* {{Cite journal |last=Ward |first=Peter D. |last2=Montgomery |first2=David R. |last3=Smith |first3=Roger |date=8 September 2000 |title=Altered River Morphology in South Africa Related to the Permian-Triassic Extinction |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.289.5485.1740 |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |language=en |volume=289 |issue=5485 |pages=1740–1743 |doi=10.1126/science.289.5485.1740 |issn=0036-8075}}

* {{Cite journal |last=Ward |first=Peter D. |last2=Botha |first2=Jennifer |last3=Buick |first3=Roger |last4=De Kock |first4=Michiel O. |last5=Erwin |first5=Douglas H. |last6=Garrison |first6=Geoffrey H. |last7=Kirschvink |first7=Joseph L. |last8=Smith |first8=Roger |date=4 February 2005 |title=Abrupt and Gradual Extinction Among Late Permian Land Vertebrates in the Karoo Basin, South Africa |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1107068 |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |language=en |volume=307 |issue=5710 |pages=709–714 |doi=10.1126/science.1107068 |issn=0036-8075}}

==See also==
*[[Fermi paradox]]
*[[Gorgonopsia]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
* ''The Science of Doom:  Peter Ward takes on the great unknowns'', Pacific Northwest magazine ([[Seattle Times]]), December 11, 2005, p.&nbsp;12ff

==External links==
* [http://bigthink.com/users/peterward Collection of interviews of Peter Ward]
* [http://www.ess.washington.edu/dwp/people/profile.php?name=ward--peter Peter Ward faculty page at the University of Washington]
* [http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/7431 Video of interview/discussion about mass extinctions with Peter Ward] and [[Carl Zimmer]] on [[Bloggingheads.tv]]
* [http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/8488 Video discussion about the link between paleontology & astrobiology with Peter Ward] and [[Carl Zimmer]] on [[Bloggingheads.tv]]
* [http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/peter_ward_on_mass_extinctions.html Peter Ward lecture on the Medea hypothesis and mass extinctions]
* {{YouTube|HtHlsUDVVy0|Talk: Our Future In a World Without Ice Caps}} (April 2013)

{{Speculative evolution}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Peter}}
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:American paleontologists]]
[[Category:American science writers]]
[[Category:University of Washington faculty]]
[[Category:American science teachers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Astrobiologists]]
[[Category:Scientists from Seattle]]
[[Category:American non-fiction environmental writers]]
[[Category:Franklin High School (Seattle) alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Adelaide]]