Edmund Ware Sinnott (February 5, 1888–January 6, 1968) was an American

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. Sinnott is best known for his work in plant morphology.

Career

Sinnott received his Bachelor of Arts (1908), Master of Arts (1910), and Doctor of Philosophy (1913), all from Harvard University. During his freshman year of college, he lived in

Stoughton Hall This is a list of dormitories at Harvard College. Only freshmen live in these dormitories, which are located in and around Harvard Yard. Sophomores, juniors and seniors live in the House system. Apley Court South of Harvard Yard on Holyoke Stree ...

. Sinnott studied in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

with

Arthur Johnson Eames Arthur Johnson Eames (October 10, 1881 – February 12, 1969) was an American botanist who spent over 50 years as faculty member and emeritus professor of botany at Cornell University, known for his work on flower anatomy and plant morphology. He ...

from 1910-1911. Upon graduation, he became an instructor at Harvard, and worked with I. W. Bailey, the anatomist. From 1915-1928, he was at the Connecticut Agricultural College at Storrs, becoming Professor of Botany and Genetics. From 1928-1939, he was Professor of Botany at Barnard College, where he helped refurbish the

Arthur Ross Greenhouse The Arthur Ross Greenhouse is a greenhouse located on the fifth floor of Milbank Hall at Barnard College, New York City. Originally a rooftop garden, it is used for botanical research and hosts a collection of approximately 650 species of plants. ...

, and chair of the Botany Department at Columbia University (1939-1940). In 1940, he moved to Yale University to become

Sterling Professor Sterling Professor, the highest academic rank at Yale University, is awarded to a tenured faculty member considered the best in his or her field. It is akin to the rank of university professor at other universities. The appointment, made by the ...

of Botany, chair of the Botany Department (1940-1956), director of the

Marsh Botanical Garden The Marsh Botanical Garden is a botanical garden and arboretum located on the Yale University campus at 265 Mansfield Street in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. History The Garden was established in 1899 when paleontologist Othniel Charles ...

(1940-1950), dean of the Graduate School (1950-1956) and director of Sheffield Scientific School (1945-1956). He was also made editor of the American Journal of Botany, member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

, and president of the Botanical Society of America, the American Society of Naturalists and the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

. He was the co-author of the textbook ''Principles of Genetics'' (1925) which received positive reviews. Throughout his life, Sinnott was a prolific author; he wrote ninety scientific articles and many textbooks. Sinnott contributed to the field of Colonial and early American Architecture with his book ''Meetinghouse & Church in Early New England'' (1963), with photographs by

Jerauld Manter Jerauld Armington Manter (December 30, 1889 – August 21, 1990) was an American professor of ornithology and entomology at the University of Connecticut from 1912 to 1953. He was UConn's unofficial photographer, taking thousands of photos doc ...

. In his teaching, Sinnott stressed the idea of scientific discovery and the importance of making careful measurements and correctly interpreting data. He endeavored to explain the organism as an integrated whole from the sum of its parts, processes and history. He retired in 1956 and died in New Haven in 1968.

Philosophy

Sinnott was a proponent of organicism and a critic of

reductionism Reductionism is any of several related philosophical ideas regarding the associations between phenomena which can be described in terms of other simpler or more fundamental phenomena. It is also described as an intellectual and philosophical pos ...

. He held that view that life is goal directed and purposive. In his book ''Biology of Spirit'' (1955) he used the term ''Telism'' which he defined as "the philosophy of goals-a belief that what is important is not the push and drive of a living system but the drawing power of a goal, conscious or unconscious, that in some is established in it". His philosophy was compared by critics to a form of

vitalism Vitalism is a belief that starts from the premise that "living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities because they contain some non-physical element or are governed by different principles than are inanimate things." Wher ...

.Koch, Leo Francis. (1957). ''Vitalistic-Mechanistic Controversy''. '' The Scientific Monthly''. Vol. 85, No. 5. pp. 245-255. Others such as George Gaylord Simpson claimed Sinnott was promoting a theological version of

orthogenesis Orthogenesis, also known as orthogenetic evolution, progressive evolution, evolutionary progress, or progressionism, is an obsolete biological hypothesis that organisms have an innate tendency to evolve in a definite direction towards some go ...

. He rejected both

dualism Dualism most commonly refers to: * Mind–body dualism, a philosophical view which holds that mental phenomena are, at least in certain respects, not physical phenomena, or that the mind and the body are distinct and separable from one another ** ...

and materialistic monism for his own philosophy which was described by a reviewer as idealistic monism. He argued for the existence of an impersonal God which he described as a purposive organizing agent. He was criticized by

Leo Koch Leo Francis Koch (February 8, 1916 – November 14, 1982) was an American academic. An Assistant Professor of biology at the University of Illinois, he was fired for promoting premarital sex. Early life Leo Francis Koch was born on February ...

for making metaphysical statements in his science books, he stated for example "The Principle of Organization is far more than a scientific concept. It states a belief that there is operating in the universe a something that leads to spirit; something that is spirit." In his book ''Cell and Psyche'' (1950) he argued that mind and matter are two aspects of the same phenomenon and that purpose exists in all organisms as it is built into the

genotype The genotype of an organism is its complete set of genetic material. Genotype can also be used to refer to the alleles or variants an individual carries in a particular gene or genetic location. The number of alleles an individual can have in a ...

and the

protoplasm Protoplasm (; ) is the living part of a cell that is surrounded by a plasma membrane. It is a mixture of small molecules such as ions, monosaccharides, amino acid, and macromolecules such as proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, etc. In some defini ...

.Glass, Bentley. (1952). ''Cell and Psyche: The Biology of Purpose by Edmund W. Sinnott''. '' The Quarterly Review of Biology''. Vol. 27, No. 1. p. 62.

Publications

''Botany, Principles and Problems''
(1923, sixth edition in 1963) *''Principles of Genetics'' (1925, third edition in 1934) *''Laboratory Manual for Elementary Botany'' (1927)
''Cell and Psyche''
(1950) *''Two Roads to Truth'' (1953) *''The Biology of the Spirit'' (1955) *''Life and Mind'' (1956) *''Matter, Mind, and Man'' (1957)
''Plant Morphogenesis''
(1960) *''The Bridge of Life: From Matter to Spirit'' (1966)

References

External links

National Academy of Science's Biography
* Edmund Ware Sinnott papers (MS 452). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinnott, Edmund Ware 1888 births 1968 deaths Harvard University alumni American science writers Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences American botanists University of Connecticut faculty Columbia University faculty Yale University faculty Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Orthogenesis Theistic evolutionists Yale Sterling Professors