Talk:Louis Leakey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography. For more information, visit the project page.	Biography Portal
Start	This article has been rated as Start-Class on the Project's quality scale. [FAQ] (If you rated the article, please give a short summary at comments to explain the ratings and/or to identify the strengths and weaknesses.)
	This article is supported by the Science and academia work group.

Contents 1 Louis Semour Bazett 2 Rea / Nigel Leakey 3 Leakey foundation by leakey user 4 Leakey on Race 5 Leakey a Presbyterian? 6 rqimg 7 Ezeu and references 8 Box 9 Not a start now

[edit] Louis Semour Bazett

Leakey, Louis Semour Bazett (1903-72): Louis Leakey was the British anthropologist, who, in East Africa, was to discover the fossilized remains of a number of "pre-men." For an enjoyable read, and, an insight in the work of the Leakey family; read Richard E. Leakey's book, The Making of Mankind (1981) (New York: Dutton, 1981). Born in Kabete Kenya, he grew up, played, and learned to hunt with Africans. He also learned to walk with the distinctive gait of the Kikuyu and speak their language as fluently as English. At 13, after discovering stone tools, he began to develop his lifelong passion for prehistory. He studied at Cambridge University, graduating in 1926. He discovered several human and proto-human skeletons or partial skeletons at Olduvai Gorge and Rusinga Island, firmly outlining man's early ancestral tree. Among his many extraordinary finds was the 1959 unearthing of 'Zinjanthropus', a robust hominid that hinted at the great complexity of mankind's evolutionary roots. In 1972, Leakey died in of a heart attack in London. He was 69. One of Leakey's greatest legacies stems from his role in fostering field research of primates in their natural habitats, which he understood as key to unraveling the mysteries of human evolution. Leakey touch chose three female researchers, later dubbed 'Leakey's Angels', who each went on to become giants in the field of primatology. Jane Goodall became the first of Leakey's Angels in 1957, when she began her first field study of chimpanzee culture in the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. In 1967, Dian Fossey became Leakey's second Angel, beginning her extended study of mountain gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes of Rwanda. In 1971, Biruté Galdikas became the third, when she began field studies of Orangutans in the jungles of Borneo. Louis Leakey was married to Mary Leakey, who made perhaps the most important discovery in Palaeolithic archeology, the Laetoli footprints. The footprints, which established the earliest record of truly bipedal gait, were found preserved in volcanic ash in Tanzania. He is also the father of paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey. Leakey's cousin, Rea Leakey, was a British tank commander during World War II.

[edit] Rea / Nigel Leakey

I think louis' relative who was a tank commander (and a vc) was called nigel rather than Rea Leakey. mjfc

Nigel Leakey already has a wikipedia article. I dont know if he is a relative to Louis Leakey or not. Rea Leakey is obviously another person. Julius Sahara 21:25, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

I found Rea's obituary. Rea and Nigel were brothers. Nigel died getting the VC and Rea went on to become a Major General. I don't see any VC in there but he had plenty of medals. They were the sons of Arundel Gray Leakey, a cousin of Louis Leakey. Poor old Gray was taken away by the Mau Mau and never heard from again, which was considered a great shame, because the Leakey family was pro-Kikuyu. The Leakey missionaries spoke against taking Kikuyu land whenever they could. Louis was a member of the tribe and Harry railed against the native policy to no avail. As to who should have an article the issue has already been raised. See under the Leakey disambiguation page. What do you think, folks?Dave 04:57, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Leakey foundation by leakey user

Hello leakey, whoever you might be. Your user and discussion pages are empty! I note the changes in "early career" etc. regarding the Leakey foudation. They would not end up there, of course. Additional sections need to be added. The article has a long way to go.

But, it seems to me there is another very important concern. I recognize your phraseology as typical advertising hyp. What bothers me is that the Leakeys do not use this sort of hyp on any of their sites. They don't have to. Everyone already knows who and what they are. Moreover, the stuff is so pat that is looks as though it were copied from somewhere. So, I seriously question it. When those phrases finally do end up in the appropriate section, I will probably be deleting them, as this is not an article to sell the Leakey Foundation, which is forbidden by Wikipedia, and moreover it seems pretty much below the level of the Leakey sites. Their work brings them to public attention. They don't need the hyp.

I will be glad to consider any further argument as I write and it would be interesting to know why you chose that name, although, of course, it is not relevant. As far as I know, you can choose any name.Dave 17:56, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Leakey on Race

I'm concerned by the "Leakey on race" section. It is merely a one sentence quote of his, with no explaining information. It makes him seem like a racist, which he very well could be, but it could easily have been taken seriously out of context. I am removing it for now and moving it here pending discussion. Indeed, I would be inclined to suggest that however great may be the physical differences between such races as the European and the Negro, the mental and psychological differences are greater still." - L.S.B. Leakey, in The Progress And Evolution Of Man In Africa (Oxford University Press), 1961 Ungovernable Force^{Poll: Which religious text should I read?} 05:29, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

It surely is out of context. Louis did not think like a settler, he thought like a Kikuyu. He even said, he spoke Kikuyu better than he did English. I saw him in the news films back in the 1950s prattling away in Kikuyu to some intent tribemen while everyone looked on in astonishment. There was no hesitation and no stuttering. He just went right on at a rapid clip. His main friends and his loyal friends were Kikuyu. I don't suppose the beatings he took in secondary school or his treatment by his former colleagues and mentors at Cambridge predisposed him to prefer the English, even though he was English. So that section is rightly removed and I would have done it had you not.Dave 04:46, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Leakey a Presbyterian?

I can find no evidence that Leakey was a presbyterian. His parents were Anglican missionaries. He wished to follow in his father's footsteps, which can only have been as an Anglican. In case you might not have known, the presbyterian church was Scottish in origin and dates from the English revolution. The Anglican church was established by Henry VIII and was the established religion. Both were in Kenya. Do you have some evidence that Louis converted to the Presbyterians? This is Louis now, not anyone else in the family. As far as his being forced to go to church is concerned I neither have any idea nor do I see any relevance to this article. I doubt he would have had a problem with church. He used to preach to the other students until he got kicked in the head by them. At the same time he was clearly an evolutionist. I notice you have a blank user page. Have you got anything to back up the Presbyterian category? I deleted it again but if you find something we can put it back. One thing I notice is that the short Internet articles you see on Louis are full of some bad errors. I'm working mainly from books. So, we need a reference from a book, as the Internet is unreliable here, unless you are looking at a Leakey site. As far as I can tell from the books, after his concussion (which was really bad and may have contributed to some of his later behavior) he was not much of a church-goer and after he left Frida all the minsters would have been carping at him to leave Mary, including his parents, so I do not imagine he put up much of a show of church.Dave 04:21, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] rqimg

It is requested that an image or images be included in this article to improve its quality. Please use {{reqphoto}}, {{reqmap}}, {{reqdiagram}}, or {{reqimageother|type of request}} instead of this template to clearly identify the type of image requested.

It would be nice if commons could acquire some Leakey pictures, which seem to be absent from there. Also Leakey place names appear to be absent as well, such as Kabete. I've looked high and low. Some desiderata: Kabete, Canon Leakey and his wife, Frida, Mary, the children, Heselon mukiri, Chief Koinange, any shots of Louis, the museum in Nairobi, the camp at Olduvai, Rusinga, Kanam, Kanjera, the Miocene Lady; in short, there is a deficit in the photos on this and related subjects which needs an enthusiast to fill. Bienvenue.Dave 17:04, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ezeu and references

Mr. Ezeu! Do you think I would do an article like this without references? The main reference is Ancestral Passions and also I am using to a lesser degree "By the Evidence." Both those are listed there. Not only that but the Internet material is not just footnotes but is references as well. There a few facts from other books. Right now Ancestral Passions is about all I can handle. The problem is to keep it short for the material.

I think I know what you mean, though. I believe you want to see exact citations to chapters, possibly pages? Certainly that can be done. But what would you like to see cited? The whole thing is from the Ancestral Passions, just about. Have you read it? If you do you will see that the approach I have taken is quite moderate. I'm nearly done here except for clean-up. Why don't you state what ideas you would like to see cited and I will cite them? For the material on Kenya I am relying on Morell. If you have a problem with her perhaps you could suggest references to alternative views. I don't really have an interpretation of my own. If any views beyond basic have surfaced let me know and we can fix it. Meanwhile I will just finish up here and start putting in chapter numbers. To put in page numbers I will have to cite specific editions. But, you know, you have to let me know to what level we are going to cite (unless you do it). We can have a page number on every phrase, but it wouldn't look so good, you know?

What I am inclined to do is go with the chapter numbers. But, if you (or anyone) have not read the book, and want to question every idea, then certainly page numbers can be given. But on which ideas? There are a LOT of ideas in there. I appreciate your general comment and can respond to it generally but is that enough? What have you got in mind? Let me go on bit - I hate to leave things half done - and clean up and try to respond. At that point I think you have to get more specific in your commentary. If you or anyone else wants to pick up on it, feel free, according to Wikipedia custom. I'll play along as long as I feel we are getting somewhere on it. I still can't find any pictures. Wierd! You'd think there would be some!Dave 02:14, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

I am not saying the article was written without references, but that it is not obvious to the reader what references have been used and where. You do not need to reference exact pages. Use

<ref name=bytheevidence>Leakey, L.S.B., By the Evidence: Memoirs 1932-1951, Harcourt Brace Jovanavich, New York, 1974, ISBN 0-15-149454-1</ref>,
then simply 
<ref name=bytheevidence></ref> every time you use the same reference.

--Ezeu 02:42, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Got it. I'm probably not as knowledgeable on the format as you so it may take a while to home in on it but I am sure you can help me out. I'm writing by successive approximation - broad strokes then refinement. By the way, great pic. Could use more if you can find any.Dave 03:19, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Its difficult to find images with usage licences acceptable to Wikipedia, but I'll try. --Ezeu 03:23, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Box

I see Jane has nice box. How about one for Louis, ye box-makers? Dave 14:29, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Not a start now

I'm just about done with this except possibly for minor edits at some future time. I do apologize but I found I could not get the size down and still include adequate information for this important, free-thinking, liberal, and much-loved palaeoanthropolgist who played such an important part behind the scenes or partially so in numerous events of the modern world. Now it is someone else's turn. It could use pictures if anyone can find them. I'm not taking the templates off because I don't think that is my function. Take them off, put them on, just as you wish. If you find ways to improve it, by all means do.Dave 10:51, 10 March 2007 (UTC)