Stuart Pivar

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'''Stuart Pivar''' {{lived|1930|}} is an [[American]] [[chemist]] and [[art]] collector who has become well known for his unorthodox views about [[evolution]].

==Evolution==
Pivar has written that the body form of all organisms are encoded not in [[DNA]] but in the patterned structure of a primordial germ plasm the universal predecessor of the egg.<ref>[http://www.randomhouse.com/book/200378/on-the-origin-of-form-by-stuart-pivar Random House Publishers]</ref> He published a book titled ''LifeCode: The Theory of Biological Self Organization'' in 2004.

Pivar believes evolution is driven by {{wpl|self-organization}} and rejects [[natural selection]]. He is an advocate of [[non-Darwinian evolution]] and discusses his theories in his book ''Origin of Form: Evolution by Self-Organization'' (2009). Pivar believes there is an archetype substance which is a self-organized pre-embryonic structure which shapes the form of all living organisms.

Pivar was also a close friend to [[Stephen Jay Gould]] but has made controversial statements that Gould himself was a critic of natural selection towards the end of his life.<ref>[http://www.talkreason.org/articles/Jay.cfm On the Beach With Stephen Jay Andrea Bottaro]</ref>

==Reception==
Pivar has a long history of attempting to sue people who disagree with him. He has been called an "eccentric" and a "loon" by his critics, who have also written that he embraces [[pseudoscience]].<ref>New York Magazine &mdash; 8 Apr 1996 &mdash; Page 24</ref><ref>[http://americanloons.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/324-stuart-pivar.html Encyclopedia of American Loons]</ref> [[Evolutionary biologist]] [[Massimo Pigliucci]] wrote that Pivar sent him abusive emails and is known for sending abusive emails to other scientists who disagree with him.<ref>Massimo Pigliucci Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk, p. 101</ref> Pivar has also attempted to sue scientists who criticised his work in reviews of his book.<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/08/13/stuart-pivar-sues-robert-hazen/ Stuart Pivar sues Robert Hazen]</ref>

On his blog "Pharyngula", developmental biologist [[PZ Myers]] reviewed Pivar's book ''Lifecode'' and described the book as pseudoscience and called Pivar a "classic [[crackpot]]".<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/07/17/lifecode-from-egg-to-embryo-by/ "Lifecode: From egg to embryo by self-organization" by PZ Myers]</ref><ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/07/12/lifecode/ Review of Lifecode]</ref> In 2007 Pivar attempted to sue Seed Media, the host of ScienceBlogs; however, the case was withdrawn after ten days.<ref>Delta, George B.; Matsuura, Jeffrey H. (2009). ''Law of the Internet'', Volume 1, 2009 supplement. Aspen Publishers. pp. 11–12.</ref>

In 2010 Pivar published a [[peer-reviewed]] paper titled ''Origin of the Vertebrate Skeleton'' in the ''International Journal of Astrobiology''. Paleontologist Mark McMenamin called the discovery "a seismic event in science" as the model of Pivar is based neither on a genetic code nor on natural selection and is a totally new idea in evolutionary biology.<ref>[http://www.astrobio.net/pressrelease/3628/innovative-solution-to-the-evolution-of-form-proposed Innovative Solution to the Evolution of Form Proposed]</ref><ref>[http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7928966 The origin of the vertebrate skeleton by Stuart Pivar]</ref> Simon Mitton, a Cambridge [[scientist]] and IJA editor-in-chief, called it "a groundbreaking concept".<ref>[http://phys.org/news204810859.html ''Phys. News'' 2010]</ref> Other scientists have written however that Pivar's ideas in the paper are pseudoscience and they have criticised the journal for publishing it.<ref>[http://pleiotropy.fieldofscience.com/2010/09/pivars-pure-fantasy-published.html Pivar's pure fantasy published by Bjørn Østman]</ref>

==External links==
*[http://stuartpivar.com/index.html Stuart Pivar Home Website]

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pivar, Stuart}}
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Chemists]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoters]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Categories: Authors, Chemists, Pseudoscience promoters, Living people