Missing Links: Eugène Dubois and the Origins of Paleoanthropology

Examining the origins of various scientific fields may .help to identify particular individuals whose thought, work, and discoveries have had a disproportionately large influence. Such Individuals seem to serve as catalysts for a wider set of intellectual reactions, which then give rise to an entire field of study. In this paper, we propose explicit criteria for recognizing the founders of new fields. We contend that Eugène Dubois, best known as the man who found the "missing link" between apes and humans, should be recognized as one of the founding fathers of paleoanthropology.