Davidson Black was born in Toronto, Canada on July 25,1884. His father was Davidson Black, Q.C. of Toronto. He learned early on that good communication skills with other cultures would aide him in learning about them. Black not only befriended the Indians and learned their languages in his early days; he also got along extremely well with his Chinese colleagues. He was always eager to know more and this progressed throughout his life.
Black started his upper level education at Upper Canada College. He attracted the attention of the late Sir William Osler and Professor A. B. Macallum soon after he entered the University of Toronto. They suggested that he get some general training before he started his chosen study of medicine. Black decided to take an Arts degree and study anthropology before entering his medical studies. He earned a degree in Medical Science in 1906 from the University of Toronto , then went back to study comparative anatomy. By 1909, Black was an Anatomy instructor in the Western Reserve University at Cleveland, Ohio. Under Professor Wingate Todd, Black was given the position of Assistant Professor of Anatomy in 1913. It was also around that time that he married Adena Nevitt. He went to the University of Manchester in England to study comparative neurology. It was there at that time that the Piltdown skull was being studied and reconstructed. As Black looked at the Piltdown skull and the many other casts of all known fossil human skulls, he realized how he wanted to devote the rest of his life.
Black set about learning all he could by studying geological literature and gaining technical experience as he trained himself for his new field of work. At that time, Dr. William D. Matthew was a staff member at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Black was very interested in what Dr. Matthew had written in his work, Climate and Evolution. Black was convinced that primitive man likely descended from China.
After realizing his passion for human evolution, he earned his big break. Black's military service in the Canadian Medical Corps was completed in 1916. Peking Union Medical College in China offered him the position of Professor of Neurology, which he was most happy to accept. Black formed close friendships with his new colleagues and especially with Dr. A. W. Grabeau, Professor of Paleontology at the National University of Peking. In 1927, Black began an enormous excavation at Zhoukoudian (Chou-k’ou-tien), which is near Peking. It was there that a hominid lower molar of unusual distinction was discovered. After studying this tooth with intense focus, Black recognized the existence of a previously unknown hominid genus and species. He also pointed out the close relationships among Peking man and Pithecanthropus Erectus. Black eventually became the Chair and Director of the Anthropology Department. He set up a well-equipped, modern anthropological lab.
Davidson Black inferred that the Peking man was ‘ a thinking being, standing erect, dating to the beginning of the Ice Age.’ Some scientists were skeptical of Black’s findings, and in 1928, while Black was traveling to validate his beliefs to other scientists, half of a lower jaw was found with three teeth still intact. But the evidence he was really looking for was in the discovery of skull of the first Peking man.
In 1932, Black was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was also invited to deliver the Croonian Lecture at the Royal Society in England. He took a detour on his way to England to look for likely research sites in Persia, western Asia, India, and Egypt, where he believed the fossils of men and apes were to be found. He long held the desire to go to the Sin Kiang Province in Chinese Turkestan, where he believed the fossils of apes which were closely connected to man would be found. His hard work and dedication carried him far in his experiments and discoveries, but the stress eventually got to him. He struggled with a congenital heart defect, which when he overworked would act up. He worked long days at his office, often returning again to work during the night, with very minimal sleep. This obsession eventually lead to his death at age 49, on March 15, 1934, while working alone in his office at night. The Cenozoic Laboratory of Peking lost one of its most prized directors whose extensive knowledge and technical training were very highly valued.
Biography, http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/dblack.html, (2006)
Former link, http://search.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=15662&sctn=, (2006)
Former link, http://search.eb.com/bol/topic?idxref=84333, (2006)
Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society, Vol. 1, No.3(Dec., 1934), pp. 361-365.
Written By: Samantha Pritchett, 2001
Edited By: Lillian Dolentz, 2008