Author Shaler Nathaniel Southgate

Nathaniel Southgate Shaler (1841-1906) was an American paleontologist and geologist who wrote extensively on the theological and scientific implications of the theory of evolution. Shaler studied at Harvard under the legendary Louis Agassiz and would go on to become a Harvard fixture in his own right, as lecturer and professor of paleontology for two decades (1869-1888) and as professor of geology for nearly two more (1888-1906). Ten years after Charles Darwin[1] realised the importance of earthworm soil bioturbation to soil formation, Shaler expanded on Darwin's observations by examining other animals, such as ants.[2] In his later career, Shaler served as Harvard's Dean of Sciences and was considered one of the university's most popular teachers. He published scores of long and short treatises in his lifetime, with subjects ranging from topographical surveys to moral philosophy. Early in his professional career Shaler was broadly a creationist and anti-Darwin. This was largely out of