# RIP Lynn Margulis (1938 - 2011)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-lynn-margulis-1938-2011/603966>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [November 24, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-lynn-margulis-1938-2011/603966 "2011-11-24T13:15:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-lynn-margulis-1938-2011/603966/1 "2011-11-24T13:15:42Z")

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[Dead at age 73.](http://blogs.nature.com/news/2011/11/lynn_margulis_dead_at_73.html)

A scientific giant has passed. Yes, she became a bit quacky in her later years, but her ideas changed how we think about he evolution of eukaryotic life on earth. Her theory indirectly promulgated one of my main research areas.

RIP Lynn, you crazy, magnificent wonder.

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**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-lynn-margulis-1938-2011/603966/2 "2011-11-24T15:14:20Z")

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Aww, sadness.

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**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-lynn-margulis-1938-2011/603966/3 "2011-11-24T16:29:18Z")

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Attended a speech of hers at the University of Florida when I was an undergrad there.

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**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-lynn-margulis-1938-2011/603966/4 "2011-11-24T17:15:47Z")

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_snif_ Sadness, indeed.

Well, maybe her organelles are going on to live new lives in other organisms…

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**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-lynn-margulis-1938-2011/603966/5 "2011-11-24T18:45:48Z")

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> [@mozchron](#):
>
> Yes, she became a bit quacky in her later years, but her ideas changed how we think about he evolution of eukaryotic life on earth.

Absolutely. I remember her name coming up in the very first college biology course I ever took. Like Linus Pauling she championed some idiosyncratic notions in her later years, but also like Pauling her contributions are nothing to be sniffed.

RIP.