Libbie Hyman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Libbie Henrietta Hyman
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| Born | December 6, 1888 |
| Died | August 3, 1969 (aged 80) |
| Nationality | United States |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago |
| Known for | A Laboratory Manual for Elementary Zoology, The Invertebrates |
| Awards | Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal (1951) Linnean Medal (1960) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Zoology |
| Institutions | University of Chicago, American Museum of Natural History |
| Influences | Charles Manning Child |
Libbie Henrietta Hyman (December 6, 1888 – August 3, 1969) was an amazing American zoologist. She became famous for her many books about animals without backbones, called invertebrates. Her most well-known work is a huge set of books called The Invertebrates. She also wrote a very popular book for students, A Laboratory Manual for Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy.
Contents
Her Early Life and Education
Libbie Hyman was born in Des Moines, Iowa. Her family didn't have a lot of money. Her father, Joseph Hyman, was a Polish/Russian immigrant who owned clothing stores. Libbie helped a lot with housework at home.
She loved to read, especially books by Charles Dickens. She also enjoyed nature, learning to identify flowers and collecting butterflies and moths. She once said her interest in nature was mostly because she found it beautiful.
High School and College Years
In 1905, Libbie graduated from high school in Fort Dodge. She was the youngest in her class and the top student! At first, she worked in a factory, but her English and German teacher encouraged her to go to college.
She started at the University of Chicago in 1906 with a scholarship. She tried different subjects like botany and chemistry. But she found her true passion in zoology, thanks to Professor Charles Manning Child.
Libbie earned her bachelor's degree in zoology in 1910. She continued her studies, working as a lab assistant. She noticed that the lab textbooks weren't very good, which later inspired her to write her own. In 1915, she earned her Ph.D. in zoology. Her research was about how certain worms could regrow body parts.
After her father passed away, her mother moved to Chicago. Libbie felt her family didn't support her academic dreams. She once said, "I never received any encouragement from my family to continue my academic career." Despite this, she kept going!
Her Amazing Work as a Zoologist
Libbie Hyman became a very important scientist. She wrote many books and papers that helped other students and scientists learn about animals.
Writing Popular Textbooks
The University of Chicago Press asked Libbie to write a book called A Laboratory Manual for Elementary Zoology (1919). To her surprise, it became very popular! She then wrote another successful book, A Laboratory Manual for Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy (1922). This book was about animals with backbones, like us.
But Libbie was much more interested in invertebrates. These are animals without a backbone, like worms, jellyfish, and insects. She wanted to write a guide about them. Her colleagues convinced her to write a more advanced book instead.
While at the University of Chicago, she also wrote scientific papers. These papers focused on flatworms (called Turbellaria) and freshwater Hydra, which are tiny animals related to jellyfish.
Moving to New York and The Invertebrates
By 1931, Libbie realized she could live off the money from her books. She also knew her mentor, Professor Child, was going to retire. So, she decided to leave the University of Chicago.
She traveled around Europe for over a year. Then, she moved to New York City to work on her biggest project: a huge book series about invertebrates. She got an office at the American Museum of Natural History in 1936. She worked there for the rest of her life without pay, just for the chance to use their amazing library and resources.
Libbie spent years writing her six-volume masterpiece, The Invertebrates. She knew several European languages and even Russian, which helped her read many scientific papers. She collected notes, organized them, and wrote about each group of invertebrates. She even took art lessons to draw professional illustrations for her books!
She also spent summers at different biological stations. These included places like the Bermuda Biological Laboratory and the Marine Biological Laboratory. Here, she studied real animal specimens and drew them.
The Impact of The Invertebrates
The first volume of The Invertebrates came out in 1940. People immediately praised it for being "comprehensive" (meaning it covered everything) and "authoritative" (meaning it was very accurate). The illustrations were also clear and simple.
She continued to publish more volumes:
- Volume 2 and 3 in 1951
- Volume 4 (about starfish and sea urchins) in 1955
- Volume 5 in 1959
- Volume 6 (about mollusks, like snails and clams) in 1967
Sadly, her health declined, and she couldn't finish the entire series. But her work was still incredibly important. Another scientist, Horace Wesley Stunkard, said her books had "incisive analysis, judicious evaluation and masterly integration of information." This means she was great at analyzing, judging, and putting together information.
A Big Scientific Idea
In her work, Libbie Hyman developed an important scientific idea. She believed that chordates (animals with a spinal cord, like humans and all other vertebrates) were related to echinoderms (like starfish). Even though they look very different, she thought they shared a common ancestor.
This group is now called deuterostomes. Her idea was based on studying how animals develop from embryos. Later, modern science, using DNA analysis, proved her theory was correct!
Other Contributions and Awards
Besides her huge invertebrate project, Libbie also updated her A Laboratory Manual for Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy in 1942. She called it her "bread and butter" because it brought in money.
She wrote about 136 scientific papers on different topics. These included how lower invertebrates work (their physiology) and how they are classified (their systematics). She also wrote about specific types of worms. She once joked that the worms in Bermuda were so pretty she had to study them and correct mistakes made by an earlier expert!
Libbie Hyman was also the editor of a science journal called Systematic Zoology from 1959 to 1963. She received many important awards for her work:
- She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1960.
- She became a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1961.
- She received the Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal in 1951.
- She won the gold medal from the Linnean Society of London in 1960.
- She received a gold medal from the American Museum of Natural History in 1969.
Libbie Hyman passed away in New York City in 1969 after suffering from Parkinson's disease. Her dedication to science and her incredible books continue to teach and inspire new generations of zoologists.
