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Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre (1881–1955) French Anthropologist,
philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was
a priest and paleontologist who was passionate about incorporating
an evolutionary viewpoint into Christian theology.
This got him into trouble both with the Catholic Church
and with scientists. For the most part, both his version of
evolution and his version of theology have been abandoned.
Especially in the middle of the 20th century, many lay people
derived their ideas of evolution from reading Teilhard de
Chardin’s books.
Born May 1, 1881, Teilhard de Chardin grew up as a collector
and amateur naturalist. He entered the Catholic clergy
as a Jesuit priest. He completed studies in England, taught in
Egypt, then returned to England, where his reading of philosopher
Henri Bergson inspired him to integrate his understanding
of evolutionary science into his theological studies.
Bergson championed the idea that evolution was propelled
by a life force (élan vital) rather than by natural selection.
While working at the paleontology laboratory at the Natural
History Museum in Paris, Teilhard de Chardin became interested
in human prehistory, and he participated in the study of
newly discovered Cro-Magnon caves. His studies were interrupted
by World War I. Teilhard de Chardin was a stretcherbearer
at the front lines. War experiences caused him to think
even more about his philosophy. Afterward, Teilhard de
Chardin continued his paleontological studies and earned a
science doctorate from the Catholic Institute of Paris in 1922.
In 1923 he visited China to participate in paleontological
excavations, then returned to France. When his writings met
with church hierarchy disapproval, he went back to China,
where he remained (except for brief visits to Europe and the
United States) almost 20 years, to focus on paleontology. He
contributed to the development of geological maps and began
to write book manuscripts, such as The Phenomenon of Man
and The Divine Milieu, for which he is most remembered.
In 1929 he participated in the discovery of Peking man (see
Homo erectus) in the caves of Choukoutien (now Zhoukoudian)
near Peking. Teilhard de Chardin’s work contributed
to an understanding of the technology of Peking man and the
relationship of this species to Java man.
Teilhard de Chardin did not publish his books, largely
because the Catholic Church refused to condone his evolutionary
beliefs about human origins. They were published
after his death and became very popular. He presented evolution
as a goal-directed process, aiming toward an “omega
point” which he identified with Jesus Christ—a concept
rejected by both scientists and theologians. He also predicted
the formation of a “noosphere” of worldwide human mental
interconnectedness. Some observers claim that the Internet is
the fulfillment of Teilhard de Chardin’s noosphere proposal.
Since many of Teilhard de Chardin’s proposals are unclear
(biologist Peter Medawar called them a “bouquet of aphorisms”),
this claim cannot be tested.
Teilhard de Chardin’s early interest in paleontology put
him at the site at which Piltdown man was discovered.
Piltdown man was later revealed as a hoax, and Teilhard de
Chardin’s involvement in designing the hoax, if any, has not
been determined. Teilhard de Chardin died April 10, 1955.
Tertiary period
Further Reading
Gould, Stephen Jay. “Teilhard and Piltdown.” Section 4 in Hen’s
Teeth and Horse’s Toes. New York: Norton, 1983.
Medawar, Peter B. “Teilhard de Chardin and The Phenomenon of
Man.” In The Art of the Soluble. London: Methuen, 1967.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. The Phenomenon of Man. New York:
Perennial, 1976.
terminal Cretaceous event See Cretaceous extinction.
Tertiary period The Tertiary period (65 to two million years
ago) was the first period of the Cenozoic era (see geological
time scale). It followed one of the mass extinctions
which occurred at the end of the Cretaceous period (see Cretaceous
extinction) and preceded the Quaternary period,
which is the current period of Earth history. The Cenozoic era
is also known as the Age of Mammals, because after the extinction
of the dinosaurs the mammals had opportunity to evolve
into tremendous diversity, including many large forms.
Many evolutionary scientists and geologists now divide
the Cenozoic era into the Paleogene (Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene)
and the Neogene (Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene,
Holocene) rather than the traditional Tertiary and Quaternary
periods.
Climate. Warm moist conditions that allowed extensive
forests were widespread in the early Tertiary period (Paleogene).
Forests grew near the North Pole. Scientists estimate
that conditions were warm enough that the trees did not
need to be deciduous to avoid snowfall in winter. They were
deciduous, scientists have concluded, because of the half year
of darkness rather than because of cold temperatures. During
the second half of the Tertiary period (Neogene), climatic
conditions were cooler and drier than they had been for most
of previous Earth history. The world’s first extensive deserts
and grasslands developed during the Tertiary period. Periodic
ice ages began with the Quaternary period.
Continents. The northern and southern continents were
largely separate from one another at the beginning of the
Tertiary period. As the continents continued to move, connections
began to form between the northern and southern
continents. The subcontinent of India collided with the
Eurasian continent, forming the Himalayas (see continental
drift; plate tectonics). Northern Europe and North
America were just beginning to separate at the beginning of
the Tertiary. Tree species that lived in both areas now evolved
into separate species (see biogeography).
Marine life. All modern groups of marine organisms
existed during the Tertiary period, including the first aquatic
mammals (see whales, evolution of).
Life on land. The Cretaceous extinction left a world in
which many organisms had died, and much space and many
resources were available for growth. Not only had the dinosaurs
become extinct but also numerous lineages within the
birds, reptiles, and mammals (see birds, evolution of; reptiles,
evolution of; mammals, evolution of). The conifers
that had dominated the early Mesozoic forests came to dominate
only the forests of cold or nutrient-poor mountainous
regions in the Cenozoic (see gymnosperms, evolution of).