Henry Ernest Gee (born 24 April 1962 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England) is a

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paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

evolutionary biologist Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life for ...

and senior editor of the scientific journal ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

''.

Early life and education

Gee attended Sevenoaks School as a boarder. He then attended the Michael Hall School. He earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

and completed his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 1990 as a postgraduate student of

Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , establish ...

. His doctoral research investigated the evolution of

bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North A ...

in Britain in the

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

Career

Gee joined ''Nature'' as a reporter in 1987 and is now Senior Editor, Biological Sciences. He has published a number of books, including ''In Search of Deep Time'' (1999), ''A Field Guide to Dinosaurs'' (illustrated by

Luis Rey Luis V. Rey (born 1955) is a Spanish-Mexican artist and illustrator, a 1977 graduate of the San Carlos Academy, (UNAM). He was among the contributors of the weekly satirical magazine '' El Papus'' based in Barcelona, Spain. He was sentenced du ...

) (2003) and ''Jacob's Ladder'' (2004). ''The Accidental Species'', a book on human evolution, was published by the University of Chicago Press in October 2013. According to Stephen Cave (author of ''Immortality: The Quest to Live Forever and How It Drives Civilisation''), Gee writes, "persuasively," that "our obsession with our uniqueness is folly.... We... believe we are so exceptional... that we are the pinnacle of evolution. But this is a misunderstanding: we are just one twig in the thicket, and we could easily have never sprouted at all." In addition to his professional activities, Gee is a blues musician and a

Tolkienist Tolkien fandom is an international, informal community of fans of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially of the Middle-earth legendarium which includes ''The Hobbit'', ''The Lord of the Rings'', and ''The Silmarillion''. The concept of Tolkien ...

. He was the editor of ''Mallorn'', the journal of

the Tolkien Society The Tolkien Society is an educational charity and literary society devoted to the study and promotion of the life and works of the author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien. It began informally in 1969, and held its inaugural meeting in 1970. It ...

, for nine issues (2008–13). His science fiction trilogy ''The Sigil'', previously available in draft form online, was published by ReAnimus Press in August and September 2012. On 17 January 2014, Gee revealed the identity of

pseudonymous A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

science blogger, Dr. Isis on Twitter. Dr. Isis was an open critic of the scientific journal ''Nature'', where Gee is a senior editor. ''Nature'' released a statement on the matter. His book, ''A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth,'' won the 2022 Royal Society Science Books Prize.

Personal life

Residence is in

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Norwich, north-northeast of London and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local government authorities are Nor ...

Books

Gee's publications include:Henry Gee's * 1996: ''Before the Backbone: Views on the Origin of the Vertebrates''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Springer Science+Business Media Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing. Originally founded in 1842 ...

. . . * 1999: ''In Search of Deep Time: Beyond the Fossil Record to a New History of Life.''

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

: Comstock Publishing. Hardcover: . Paperback: . * 2001: (second edition) ''Deep Time: Cladistics, the Revolution in Evolution.'' . * 2003: ''A Field Guide To Dinosaurs: The Essential Handbook For Travelers in the Mesozoic''. Illustrations by

. Hauppage:

Barron's Educational Series Kaplan, Inc. is an American for-profit corporation that provides educational and training services to colleges, universities, businesses and individuals around the world. Founded in 1938 by Stanley Kaplan, the company offers a variety of test pre ...

. . * 2004: ''Jacob's Ladder: The History of the Human Genome''.

: W. W. Norton & Company. . * 2004: ''The Science of Middle-Earth: Explaining The Science Behind The Greatest Fantasy Epic Ever Told!''

Cold Spring Harbor Cold Spring Harbor is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Huntington, in Suffolk County, on the North Shore of Long Island in New York. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP population was 5,070. History Cold Spri ...

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) is a private, non-profit institution with research programs focusing on cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, genomics, and quantitative biology. It is one of 68 institutions supported by the Cancer Centers ...

Press. 2004 hardcover: . 2005 paperback: . (Reviewed in ''The Guardian'') * 2008: (ed.) ''Futures from Nature.''

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scienc ...

. . * 2013: ''The Accidental Species: MISUNDERSTANDINGS OF HUMAN EVOLUTION''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including '' The Chicago Manual of Style' ...

. . (Reviewed in ''The Daily Telegraph'') * 2014: (ed. with Colin Sullivan) ''Nature Futures 2.'' New York: Tor Books. . * 2017: ''Across the Bridge: Understanding the Origin of the Vertebrates''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. * 2021: ''A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Pithy Chapters'' Pan Macmillan.

References

External links

* Henry Gee
The End Of The Pier Show
- Occam's Typewriter * Henry Gee
averyshorthistoryoflifeonearth.blogspot.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gee, Henry Ernest 1962 births Academic journal editors Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Leeds British evolutionary biologists English palaeontologists English science writers English science fiction writers Living people Science fiction editors English male novelists British speculative fiction editors English male non-fiction writers