Gregory S. Paul
Encyclopedia
Gregory Scott Paul is a freelance researcher
, author
and illustrator
who works in paleontology
, and more recently has examined sociology
and theology
. He is best known for his work and research on theropod
dinosaur
s and his detailed illustration
s, both live and skeletal. Professionally investigating and restoring dinosaurs for three decades, Paul received an on-screen credit as dinosaur specialist on Jurassic Park
and Discovery Channel's When Dinosaurs Roamed America
and Dinosaur Planet
. He is the author and illustrator of Predatory Dinosaurs of the World (1988), The Complete Illustrated Guide to Dinosaur Skeletons (1996), Dinosaurs of the Air (2001), The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs (2010), Gregory S. Paul's Dinosaur Coffee Table Book (2010), and editor of The Scientific American Book of Dinosaurs (2000). Paul's recent research on the interactions of religion and society has received international press and media coverage.
Paul helped pioneer the "new look" of dinosaurs in the 1970s. Through a series of dynamic ink drawings and oil paintings he was among the first professional artists to depict them as active, warm-blooded
and — in the case of the small ones — feathered. Many later dinosaur illustrations are a reflection of his anatomical insights or even a direct imitation of his style. The fact that he worked closely with paleontologists, did his own independent paleontological research and created a series of skeletal restorations of all sufficiently known dinosaurs, lead many to regard his images as a sort of scientific standard to be followed. This tendency is stimulated by his habit of constantly redrawing older work to let it reflect the latest finds and theories. Much of it is in black-and-white, in ink or coloured pencil. Paul popularized the black flesh on white bones skeletal dinosaur images employed by some researchers today. Even one of his scientific critics, Storrs L. Olson
, described him in a review in the Scientific American
as "a superior artist". He was inspired by classic paleoartists such as Charles R. Knight
, and has a fondness for the dinosaur restorations of the little known artist Bill Berry.
Paul's line art and paintings have been published in over sixty popular books and in several television programs such as The Nature of Things
, NOVA
and PaleoWorld. Among the magazines his art has appeared in are: Time
, Smithsonian, Discover, Scientific American
, Equinox and Natural History.
in Baltimore
. Paul proposed that some of the bird-like feathered theropods were winged fliers, and that others were secondarily flightless, an idea supported by some fossils from China. Paul's thermoregulatory
concept of terramegathermy proposes that only animals with high metabolic rates can exceed one tonne on land. Paul named these dinosaurs:
The first three of these are now commonly assigned to other taxa. The theropod Cryptovolans pauli is named after him in recognition of his (presumed correct) predictions about feathered and flying dinosaurs. Sellacoxa
pauli is named after him to recognize his recent work in iguanodont research.
Paul's designs of the great pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus
northropi were instrumental in building AeroVironment's half-scale robot star of the 1986 IMAX
movie On the Wing
.
Paul was also editor of The Scientific American Book of Dinosaurs (2000).
harms societies, and because the sociology of religion's cultural impact is under-researched, Paul began to investigate what he labels the "moral-creator socioeconomic hypothesis." Paul authored a paper in 2005 entitled "Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies: A First Look". He states in the introduction that the paper is "not an attempt to present a definitive study that establishes cause versus effect between religiosity, secularism and societal health".
The 2009 follow-up paper "The Chronic Dependence of Popular Religiosity upon Dysfunctional Psychosociological Conditions" finds "high religiosity is not universal to human populations, and it is actually inversely related to a wide range of socio-economic indicators representing the health of modern democracies." Paul holds that:
These conclusions are in line with other recent sociological research such as Pippa Norris
and Ronald Ingelhart's Sacred and Secular (2004) and Phil Zuckerman's Society Without God (2009). His research is not in line with popular works from John Micklethwait
and Adrian Woodbridge, or research from Peter L. Berger
(2009) and Philip Jenkins
. These latter works argue that the resurgence of religion in diverse and previously secular nations such as India, Singapore, China and Turkey, which has primarily been among the more educated, economic upper-class, when viewed alongside the continued religious adherence in the United States, seems to paint Europe (the primary center of Paul and Zuckerman's arguments) as the exception instead of the norm.
Paul's paper goes on to conclude that religion is not universal, that there is no well developed God gene
, and that humans are much more adapted to be materialists than spiritual. The study was covered by the senior science editor at Newsweek
who observed that the "brain may indeed be predisposed to supernatural beliefs. But that predisposition may need environmental input to be fully realized." An article in USA Today
presents contrasting views on Paul's conclusions.
In Philosophy & Theology Paul published a study that cites the large scale death of immature humans as evidence against the existence of a good God. The paper concludes that the widely held free will and best of all possible worlds
theological hypotheses are not correct. The absence of a moral creator is cited in the Evolutionary Psychology
paper as one reason why religion would not lead to superior societal conditions.
In a discussion in Science, Paul observes that "Prosperous modernity is proving to be the nemesis of religion". The same piece also claims that the lack of religion in some hunter-gatherers refutes the God gene hypothesis, in which a propensity to religion is genetically hard wired into the human brain.
Researcher
A researcher is somebody who performs research, the search for knowledge or in general any systematic investigation to establish facts. Researchers can work in academic, industrial, government, or private institutions.-Examples of research institutions:...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
who works in paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
, and more recently has examined sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
and theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
. He is best known for his work and research on theropod
Theropoda
Theropoda is both a suborder of bipedal saurischian dinosaurs, and a clade consisting of that suborder and its descendants . Dinosaurs belonging to the suborder theropoda were primarily carnivorous, although a number of theropod groups evolved herbivory, omnivory, and insectivory...
dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s and his detailed illustration
Illustration
An illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
s, both live and skeletal. Professionally investigating and restoring dinosaurs for three decades, Paul received an on-screen credit as dinosaur specialist on Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park (film)
Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. It stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Martin Ferrero, and Bob Peck...
and Discovery Channel's When Dinosaurs Roamed America
When Dinosaurs Roamed America
When Dinosaurs Roamed America is a two-hour American television program that first aired on Discovery Channel in 2001. It was directed by Pierre de Lespinois and narrated by actor John Goodman...
and Dinosaur Planet
Dinosaur Planet
Dinosaur Planet may refer to:* Dinosaur Planet , a science fiction novel by Anne McCaffrey* Dinosaur Planet, a science fiction novel by Stephen Leigh, book 1 of 6 in his Dinosaur World series...
. He is the author and illustrator of Predatory Dinosaurs of the World (1988), The Complete Illustrated Guide to Dinosaur Skeletons (1996), Dinosaurs of the Air (2001), The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs (2010), Gregory S. Paul's Dinosaur Coffee Table Book (2010), and editor of The Scientific American Book of Dinosaurs (2000). Paul's recent research on the interactions of religion and society has received international press and media coverage.
Illustrations
Warm-blooded
The term warm-blooded is a colloquial term to describe animal species which have a relatively higher blood temperature, and maintain thermal homeostasis primarily through internal metabolic processes...
and — in the case of the small ones — feathered. Many later dinosaur illustrations are a reflection of his anatomical insights or even a direct imitation of his style. The fact that he worked closely with paleontologists, did his own independent paleontological research and created a series of skeletal restorations of all sufficiently known dinosaurs, lead many to regard his images as a sort of scientific standard to be followed. This tendency is stimulated by his habit of constantly redrawing older work to let it reflect the latest finds and theories. Much of it is in black-and-white, in ink or coloured pencil. Paul popularized the black flesh on white bones skeletal dinosaur images employed by some researchers today. Even one of his scientific critics, Storrs L. Olson
Storrs L. Olson
Storrs Lovejoy Olson is an American biologist and ornithologist from the Smithsonian Institution. He is one of the world's foremost avian paleontologists....
, described him in a review in the Scientific American
Scientific American
Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
as "a superior artist". He was inspired by classic paleoartists such as Charles R. Knight
Charles R. Knight
Charles Robert Knight was an American artist best known for his influential paintings of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals...
, and has a fondness for the dinosaur restorations of the little known artist Bill Berry.
Paul's line art and paintings have been published in over sixty popular books and in several television programs such as The Nature of Things
The Nature of Things
The Nature of Things is a Canadian television series of documentary programs. It debuted on the CBC on November 6, 1960. Many of the programs document nature and the effect that humans have on it. The program was one of the first to explore environmental issues, such as clear-cut logging...
, NOVA
NOVA (TV series)
Nova is a popular science television series from the U.S. produced by WGBH Boston. It can be seen on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States, and in more than 100 other countries...
and PaleoWorld. Among the magazines his art has appeared in are: Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, Smithsonian, Discover, Scientific American
Scientific American
Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
, Equinox and Natural History.
Research
From 1977 to 1984, Paul was an informal research associate and illustrator for Robert Bakker in the Earth and Planetary Sciences department at Johns Hopkins UniversityJohns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
. Paul proposed that some of the bird-like feathered theropods were winged fliers, and that others were secondarily flightless, an idea supported by some fossils from China. Paul's thermoregulatory
Thermoregulation
Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different...
concept of terramegathermy proposes that only animals with high metabolic rates can exceed one tonne on land. Paul named these dinosaurs:
- AcrocanthosaurusAcrocanthosaurusAcrocanthosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur that existed in what is now North America during the Aptian and early Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous. Like most dinosaur genera, Acrocanthosaurus contains only a single species, A. atokensis. Its fossil remains are found mainly in the U.S...
altispinax (species, later renamed Becklespinax altispinax) - AlbertosaurusAlbertosaurusAlbertosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, more than 70 million years ago. The type species, A. sarcophagus, was apparently restricted in range to the modern-day Canadian province of Alberta, after which...
megagracilis (species, later renamed Dinotyrannus megagracilis, now considered a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex) - AublysodonAublysodonAublysodon is a name given to a large number of carnivorous dinosaur teeth of a certain form found in numerous late Cretaceous period geological formations...
molnari (species, later renamed Stygivenator molnari, now considered a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex) - AvisaurusAvisaurusAvisaurus is a genus of enantiornithine bird from the Late Cretaceous of North America.Two species are known; the type species A. archibaldi and A. gloriae...
archibaldi (genus and species, with Brett-Surman; a bird) - GiraffatitanGiraffatitanGiraffatitan, meaning "giraffe titan", is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived during the late Jurassic Period . It was originally named as an African species of Brachiosaurus...
brancai (genus) - MantellisaurusMantellisaurusMantellisaurus is a genus of dinosaur formerly known as Iguanodon atherfieldensis. The new genus was erected by Gregory Paul in 2007. According to Paul, it is more lightly built than Iguanodon and more closely related to Ouranosaurus, making Iguanodon in its traditional sense paraphyletic. It is...
atherfieldensis (genus) - PotamornisPotamornisPotamornis is a prehistoric bird genus that dated back to the late Maastrichtian. Its scrappy remains were found in the Lance Formation at Buck Creek, USA, and a single species has been named and described in 2001: Potamornis skutchi....
skutchi (genus and species, with Elzanowski & Stidham; a bird) - DollodonDollodonDollodon is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in the Barremian and possibly the early Aptian ages of the Early Cretaceous Period of Europe. Its remains are known from Belgium , England and possibly Germany...
bampingi (genus and species) - DakotadonDakotadonDakotadon is a genus of iguanodont dinosaur from the Barremian-age Lower Cretaceous Lakota Formation of South Dakota, USA, known from a partial skull. It was first described in 1989 as Iguanodon lakotaensis, by David B. Weishampel and Philip R. Bjork. Its assignment has been controversial. Some...
lakotaensis (genus)
The first three of these are now commonly assigned to other taxa. The theropod Cryptovolans pauli is named after him in recognition of his (presumed correct) predictions about feathered and flying dinosaurs. Sellacoxa
Sellacoxa
Sellacoxa is a genus of iguanodont which existed in what is now England during the Early Cretaceous period ....
pauli is named after him to recognize his recent work in iguanodont research.
Paul's designs of the great pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus
Quetzalcoatlus
Quetzalcoatlus was a pterodactyloid pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous of North America , and one of the largest known flying animals of all time. It was a member of the Azhdarchidae, a family of advanced toothless pterosaurs with unusually long, stiffened necks...
northropi were instrumental in building AeroVironment's half-scale robot star of the 1986 IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
movie On the Wing
On the Wing (1986 film)
On the Wing is a 1986 IMAX film featuring a half-sized robotic Quetzalcoatlus that demonstrates principles of animal flight.The film is narrated by F. Murray Abraham....
.
Writing
Aside from many scientific articles, Paul has written four books on paleontology, all illustrated by the author himself:- Predatory Dinosaurs of the World (1988): Aimed at a popular audience; informed part of the Jurassic Park novel, as evidenced by acknowledgement from author Michael CrichtonMichael CrichtonJohn Michael Crichton , best known as Michael Crichton, was an American best-selling author, producer, director, and screenwriter, best known for his work in the science fiction, medical fiction, and thriller genres. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and many have been adapted...
. - The Complete Illustrated Guide to Dinosaur Skeletons (1996): Only available in Japan for a short time, this reference book reproduced Paul's skeletal reconstructions.
- Dinosaurs of the Air (2002): Quite scholarly, the book puts forth the hypothesis that some theropods, especially maniraptorManiraptoraManiraptora is a clade of coelurosaurian dinosaurs which includes the birds and the dinosaurs that were more closely related to them than to Ornithomimus velox. It contains the major subgroups Avialae, Deinonychosauria, Oviraptorosauria and Therizinosauria. Ornitholestes and the Alvarezsauroidea...
s like VelociraptorVelociraptorVelociraptor is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that existed approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the past. The type species is V. mongoliensis; fossils...
, were descended from flying dinosaurs who later lost the ability to fly. - The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2010): The work is 320 pages covering 735 species with over six hundred of Paul's illustrations.
- Gregory S. Paul's Dinosaur Coffee Table Book (2010): A large-format hardbound collection of colour works, with commentary on each. Many pieces are revised works in progress to reflect new evidence, and are pictured next to the original works.
Paul was also editor of The Scientific American Book of Dinosaurs (2000).
Religion
Because creationists claim that popular acceptance of evolutionEvolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
harms societies, and because the sociology of religion's cultural impact is under-researched, Paul began to investigate what he labels the "moral-creator socioeconomic hypothesis." Paul authored a paper in 2005 entitled "Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies: A First Look". He states in the introduction that the paper is "not an attempt to present a definitive study that establishes cause versus effect between religiosity, secularism and societal health".
The 2009 follow-up paper "The Chronic Dependence of Popular Religiosity upon Dysfunctional Psychosociological Conditions" finds "high religiosity is not universal to human populations, and it is actually inversely related to a wide range of socio-economic indicators representing the health of modern democracies." Paul holds that:
once a nation's population becomes prosperous and secure, for example through economic security and universal health care, much of the population loses interest in seeking the aid and protection of supernatural entities. This effect appears to be so consistent that it may prevent nations from being highly religious while enjoying good internal socioeconomic conditions.
These conclusions are in line with other recent sociological research such as Pippa Norris
Pippa Norris
Pippa Norris is the McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and ARC Laureate Fellow and Professor of Government at the University of Sydney...
and Ronald Ingelhart's Sacred and Secular (2004) and Phil Zuckerman's Society Without God (2009). His research is not in line with popular works from John Micklethwait
John Micklethwait
John Micklethwait is the editor-in-chief of The Economist.-Biography:Micklethwait was born in 1962 and educated at the independent school Ampleforth College and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied history. He worked for Chase Manhattan Bank for two years and joined The Economist in 1987...
and Adrian Woodbridge, or research from Peter L. Berger
Peter L. Berger
Peter Ludwig Berger is an Austrian-born American sociologist well known for his work, co-authored with Thomas Luckmann, The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge .-Biography:...
(2009) and Philip Jenkins
Philip Jenkins
Philip Jenkins is as of 2010 the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Humanities at Pennsylvania State University . He was Professor and a Distinguished Professor of History and Religious studies at the same institution; and also assistant, associate and then full professor of Criminal Justice and...
. These latter works argue that the resurgence of religion in diverse and previously secular nations such as India, Singapore, China and Turkey, which has primarily been among the more educated, economic upper-class, when viewed alongside the continued religious adherence in the United States, seems to paint Europe (the primary center of Paul and Zuckerman's arguments) as the exception instead of the norm.
Paul's paper goes on to conclude that religion is not universal, that there is no well developed God gene
God gene
The God gene hypothesis proposes that a specific gene predisposes humans towards spiritual or mystic experiences. The idea has been postulated by geneticist Dean Hamer, the director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the U.S...
, and that humans are much more adapted to be materialists than spiritual. The study was covered by the senior science editor at Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
who observed that the "brain may indeed be predisposed to supernatural beliefs. But that predisposition may need environmental input to be fully realized." An article in USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
presents contrasting views on Paul's conclusions.
In Philosophy & Theology Paul published a study that cites the large scale death of immature humans as evidence against the existence of a good God. The paper concludes that the widely held free will and best of all possible worlds
Best of all possible worlds
The phrase "the best of all possible worlds" was coined by the German polymath Gottfried Leibniz in his 1710 work Essais de Théodicée sur la bonté de Dieu, la liberté de l'homme et l'origine du mal...
theological hypotheses are not correct. The absence of a moral creator is cited in the Evolutionary Psychology
Evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology is an approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations, that is, the functional...
paper as one reason why religion would not lead to superior societal conditions.
In a discussion in Science, Paul observes that "Prosperous modernity is proving to be the nemesis of religion". The same piece also claims that the lack of religion in some hunter-gatherers refutes the God gene hypothesis, in which a propensity to religion is genetically hard wired into the human brain.