Elaine Morgan

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elaine Morgan (1998)
Elaine Morgan (1987)

Elaine Morgan OBE , née Floyd (born November 7, 1920 in Pontypridd , Wales , † July 12, 2013 in Merthyr Tydfil ), was a British feminist writer . She is best known for her television work, including the scripts for most of the episodes of Dr. Finlay's Casebook . She is also the author of several books on the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis , including The Descent of Woman , The Aquatic Ape , The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis and, most recently, The Naked Darwinist . Falling Apart and Pinker's List also come from her pen . In her scientific writings, too, she was perceived as a science writer rather than a scientist.

A column by Elaine Morgan has appeared in the Welsh daily Western Mail since 2003 .

Life

Morgan grew up in Hopkinstown, a settlement belonging to Pontypridd. She later lived in Mountain Ash near Aberdare for several years . A study of college Lady Margaret Hall of the University of Oxford closed it with a degree in English literature from. She was married to Morien Morgan († 1997) and had three sons, including the physicist and hypnotherapist Dylan Morgan (1946-2011).

The water monkey hypothesis

Morgan began writing on scientific subjects after reading popular scientific representations of the Savannah Hypothesis of the Incarnation such as that of Desmond Morris . She was confused because the depictions were male-centered. Thus, the savanna hypothesis explains the loss of body hair with the necessity of sweating while hunting. However, this would not explain the hair loss in women to whom the Savannah Hypothesis attributes caring for the children. After repeatedly reading Desmond Morris' The Naked Monkey , she followed a hint that humans had lived by and in water for a while, the so-called water monkey hypothesis. She turned to Morris, who referred her to Alister Hardy . Her first book, The Descent of Woman, was originally intended to pave the way for Hardy's scientific book, which he never published. In later books she tried to write scientifically or, as she called it, po-faced (humorless). She claims to have been exposed to hostility from academics as an outsider and academic layperson. Many of her books seem to repel the numerous arguments against the aquatic monkey hypothesis rather than attempt to portray its strengths. Elaine Morgan ran a website where she made her point.

She has been accused of using negligent and unscientific methods in her scientific writings - she is said to have systematically falsified citations in order to put her position in a better light. Nevertheless, she was able to reach a wide audience with her views. The BBC says in the message sent 1998 Documentation The Wasseraffe the story of Morgan's quest for recognition of water ape hypothesis. And their hypothesis has reached the academic world. In 1999 she was invited to speak at the Symposium of Water and Human Evolution by the Universities of Tufts , Harvard and Gent .

In her recent book, Pinker's List (Pinker list) responding to Steven Pinker's book The Blank Slate (The Blank Slate) and rejects its claim to objectivity. She argues that the belief he caricatured in the blank slate of human development has long since died out.

Works

TV Shows

Morgan has written scripts for numerous television series since 1955. She is named 32 times on IMDB as a writer of episodes, including:

  • 1963–1970: Dr. Finlay's Casebook (9 episodes)
  • 1975: How Green Was My Valley (adaptation of the book of the same name)
  • 1979: Testament of Youth (adaptation of the book of the same name)
  • 1981: The Life and Times of David Lloyd George
  • 1989: Campion (2 episodes)

literature

  • The Descent of Woman - The Myth of the Weaker Sex Fischer-Taschenbuch, Ffm, 1972. ISBN 3-436-02104-0

Morgan's later books on the water monkey hypothesis:

Books on other topics:

Awards

Elaine Morgan has received two awards each from the British Academy Cymru BAFTA and the Writers Guild of America . She wrote the script for the BBC - Horizon row over Joey Deacon, a severely author. This film documentary was awarded the Prix ​​Italia in 1975 . She received the Writer of the Year Award from the Royal Television Society for her series Testament of Youth .

In December 2006 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Glamorgan . On June 13, 2009 she was inducted into the Order of the British Empire for her services to literature and education .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. "Award-winning columnist, feminist, playwright and author Elaine Morgan this at the age of 92" , WalesOnline from July 12, 2013
  2. Leading writer and feminist Elaine Morgan dies aged 92
  3. Elaine Morgan's website ( Memento from July 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  4. Jim Moore's website on the water monkey hypothesis (English)
  5. Quoted from Fellows 2007 on the website of the University of Cardiff  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.cardiff.ac.uk  
  6. Glamorgan Honors Wales' Finest ( Memento of the original from June 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / news.glam.ac.uk
  7. https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/jun/13/queens-birthday-honours-list-obe Queen's birthday honors list: OBEs (Engl.) The Guardian of 13 June 2009