Eozoön: debunking the dawn animal.
Discovered in the nineteenth century by the Canadian Geological Survey, the Eozoön canadense fossil, or 'dawn animal of Canada', created a sensation in the geological community. Only a few initially challenged its status as a fossil organism, including two professors in the remote Irish town of Galway. These men claimed that Eozoön was nothing more than a mineral formation and did not represent the discovery of the primordial organism. Supporters of Eozoön closed ranks and a heated debate soon broke out in a range of periodicals. The story of Eozoön lays bare the construction of scientific credibility, a process that was threatened in the second half of the nineteenth century by the proliferation of popular science.
Adelman
Juliana
J
124 Errigal Road, Dublin 12, Ireland. Juliana.Edelman2@mail.dcu.ie
D000818:Animals; D002170:Canada; D005580:Fossils; D005844:Geology / Q000266:history*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D008488:Medical Illustration / Q000266:history*; D012108:Research Personnel / Q000266:history*; D012958:Societies, Scientific / Q000266:history