Gerard Verschuuren

Gerard M. Verschuuren is a human biologist, writer, speaker, and consultant, working at the interface of science, philosophy, and religion. He is a human biologist, specialized in human genetics, who also earned a doctorate in the philosophy of science, and studied and worked at universities in Europe and the United States. In 1994, he moved permanently to the United States, and lives now in the southern part of New Hampshire.

For those specifically interested in the philosophy of biology, he wrote four textbooks: Investigating the Life Sciences: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science (1986), Life Scientists: Their Convictions, Their Activities, and Their Values (1995), The Holism-Reductionism Debate - In Physics, Genetics, Biology, Neuroscience, Ecology, Sociology (2016), and Darwin's Philosophical Legacy - The Good and the Not-So-Good (2012).

To reach fellow scientists as well, he started in cooperation with the professors Cornelis Van Peursen and Cornelis Schuyt, both of Leiden University, an overseeing editorial board for the development of 25 books on the philosophy of science for 25 specific fields, written by experts in those fields (1986–present), Nijhoff, Leiden, Series Philosophy of the Sciences.

In the 1980s, Verschuuren was an advisor to the Foundation Scientific Europe, which published a voluminous overview of research and technology in 20 European countries, entitled Scientific Europe (edited by Nigel Calder). From 1985 until 1994, he was the editor-in-chief of the Dutch magazine Natuurwetenschap en Techniek and publisher of the Dutch version of the Scientific American Library.

Verschuuren became the leader of a team of textbook writers that developed three consecutive series of biology textbooks for high-schools and colleges under the names Biosfeer (1975–1983), Oculair (1984–1994), and Grondslagen van de Biologie (Foundations of Biology; 1985–present). He also became a member of the College Admission Test team for biology in the Netherlands (1976–1982).

During the 1970s, Verschuuren wrote a weekly column on breaking biological topics in the Volkskrant daily. He was a member of the editorial board of the Dutch philosophical magazine Wijsgerig Perspectief, for which he wrote several of its articles, and a member of the editorial board of the Dutch-Flemish magazine Streven, for which he also wrote articles and book reviews. All in all, he wrote many books and articles in Dutch on biological and philosophical issues.