Irven DeVore facts for kids

Irven DeVore (October 7, 1934 – September 23, 2014) was an important scientist. He was an anthropologist, which means he studied human societies and cultures. He was also an evolutionary biologist, studying how living things change over long periods.

DeVore worked at Harvard University's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. He was in charge of the Primatology section there. From 1987 to 1992, he led Harvard's Department of Anthropology. He taught many students at Harvard, both beginners and advanced. He helped many young scientists become famous in anthropology and the study of animal and human behavior. Some of his well-known students include Richard Lee, Robert Trivers, Sarah Hrdy, and Richard Wrangham.

Early Life and Studies

DeVore grew up in a small town called Joy, Texas. He went to the University of Texas for his first degree. Later, he earned his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago.

In 1959, DeVore went to Africa to study baboons. He observed how they behaved and lived in their natural homes. This was around the same time that Jane Goodall was studying chimpanzees. DeVore's own teacher was Sherwood Washburn, a famous anthropologist.

In 1965, DeVore put together a book of research chapters about different primates. This book helped create the field of studying animal behavior, especially primates. DeVore loved nature since he was a child. His trips to Africa helped him connect with the natural world he always enjoyed.

Studying Human Societies

By the mid-1960s, DeVore started focusing on humans. He worked with Richard B. Lee. Together, they organized a big international meeting called Man the Hunter. This meeting brought together experts from different fields. It helped create a new area of study about hunter-gatherer societies.

The meeting led to an important book in 1968. This book suggested that women were very important for finding food in these societies.

DeVore and Lee also visited Botswana in Africa. They met the San (also called "Bushman") who still lived by hunting and gathering. They started a long project to study the way of life of the !Kung or Ju/'hoansi group. Many students and scientists worked together on this project. This study became a great example of how different scientists can work together in anthropology.

In the late 1970s, DeVore began another big study. He worked with Robert Bailey and Nadine Peacock. They studied small hunter-gatherer groups in the Ituri rain forest. This research also produced many scientific papers. DeVore believed these studies helped us understand the human past. He explained that these people were like us, but they still lived in a very old way.

Understanding Evolution and Behavior

DeVore was also interested in sociobiology and evolutionary psychology. These fields study how evolution shapes animal and human behavior. He helped these fields grow by teaching and supporting young scientists. He also gave talks and wrote for both scientists and the public.

DeVore supported the ideas of Robert Trivers, even when others did not. DeVore once said that the scientific information strongly supported these new ways of looking at behavior. By the year 2000, sociobiology and evolutionary psychology became common scientific fields.

DeVore had a strong and interesting personality. He often appeared on television as an expert. He also helped create school lessons, including one called "Man: A Course of Study." This lesson focused on evolution and caused some debate in Congress. DeVore was the son of a preacher. He once sold Bibles, but later became a strong supporter of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. He was known for being very good at explaining and defending it.

He once said, "There is no excuse for boring students when you're talking about human nature. It's too interesting." He taught in large, full classrooms at Harvard. He also held a smaller, important "Simian Seminar" at his home in Cambridge. Leading scientists came to speak at this seminar. It was a place where new ideas in evolutionary biology were discussed for many years.

Two of his students, Leda Cosmides and John Tooby, said that DeVore's impact was often seen through his students and colleagues.

Personal Life and Awards

Irven DeVore was a skilled photographer. His photos were published widely. His wife, Nancy DeVore, started an agency called AnthroPhoto, which uses his photos. His daughter, Claire, now manages it. DeVore also helped make many documentary films about baboons and other topics.

DeVore received many honors. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He won the Walker Prize for Science from the Museum of Science, Boston. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Institute of Human Origins. He helped create Harvard's Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, which became a separate department in 2009.

Irven DeVore passed away on September 23, 2014, from heart failure. He was survived by his daughter, Claire, and his four grandchildren. His wife, Nancy, passed away a few months after him.

Books

• Primate Behavior: Field Studies of Monkeys and Apes, ed., Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York.
• 1963 Baboon Behavior Awarded first prize by the Educational Film Library Association, 1963.
• 1965 The Primates, with S. Eimerl (Series: LIFE Nature Library), Time-Life, New York.
• 1968 Man the Hunter, with Richard B. Lee, eds. Aldine Publ., Chicago.
• 1976 Kalahari Hunter-Gatherers, with Richard B. Lee, eds., Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• 1982 Field Guide for the Study of Adolescence, with Beatrice Whiting, John Whiting, et al.
• 1990 Current Studies on Primate Socioecology and Evolution.
• 1992 Socioecology of baboons in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, 1958–92.