BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

“Jonathan Friedlaender has devoted much of his professional life to

From Anthropometry To Genomics:

studies of human population variation in Pacific Islanders… His

Reflections of a Pacific Fieldworker

collaborator on this memoir of his life and experiences in the Pacific
is Joanna Radin, a young but remarkably knowledgeable historian
of science currently conducting graduate studies at the University
of Pennsylvania. These two professionals weave a fascinating fabric
of complex texture that incorporates the educational, political,
governmental, and research climate of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with
the trials and tribulations of a young researcher and academic trying
to make his way in a highly competitive arena. The book is much more
than a series of recollections about one man’s life; rather, it is a history of
an important era in the development of anthropological genetics and the
dramatic transition in this science that took place in the early 1980s.

Friedlaender’s book should have appeal to a number of audiences –

students, professional anthropologists, and lay readers, alike… Jonathan
Friedlaender’s Reflections is a valuable addition to the historical record
of this important science. This is a worthwhile book to read for anyone
with interests in the history of science or the history of a science.”

–From the Foreword by Professor Michael A. Little, Binghamton University

Jonathan Friedlaender
Jonathan Friedlaender made eleven fieldtrips to the
South Pacific, starting with the Harvard Solomon
Islands Project in 1966. His hyper-intensive
sampling strategy revealed truly remarkable
patterns of extreme genetic variation, linked to
patterns of language diversity and isolation. A
professor emeritus of Temple University, he now
lives in Sharon, Connecticut.

Joanna Radin is a doctoral candidate in history and sociology of science at the

University of Pennsylvania.
U.S. $XX.XX

Author photo: Muriel Kirkpatrick

From Anthropometry to Genomics:
Reflections of a Pacific Fieldworker

Jonathan Scott Friedlaender

As told to Joanna Radin

iUniverse, Inc.
New York Bloomington
 Foreword
Jonathan Friedlaender has devoted much of his professional
life to studies of human population variation in Pacific Islanders.
His anthropology and pioneering genetics research was conducted
largely with what are known as Melanesian peoples on the islands of
Bougainville, Malaita, Ontong Java and the Bismarck Archipelago
in the Southwestern Pacific. This work began in June 1966 when
he was a graduate student at Harvard University and it spans more
than a forty-year career that continues to the present. His most recent
publications draw on fieldwork conducted in north Bougainville, New
Britain, New Ireland, and New Hanover during a series of genetics
surveys conducted between 1998 and 2003. His collaborator on this
memoir of his life and experiences in the Pacific is Joanna Radin, a
young but remarkably knowledgeable historian of science currently
conducting graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania. These
two professionals weave a fascinating fabric of complex texture that
incorporates the educational, political, governmental, and research
climate of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with the trials and tribulations
of a young researcher and academic trying to make his way in a highly
competitive arena. The book is much more than a series of recollections
about one man's life; rather, it is a history of an important era in the
development of anthropological genetics and the dramatic transition
in this science that took place in the early 1980s.

The book is largely chronological but with some movement forward

and backward in time when ideas were being developed. It begins with
Friedlaender's youth in North Carolina and the transformation of his
intellectual life when he attended Phillips Exeter Academy and, later,
Harvard College. He came from a family in which the pursuit of learning
was not only encouraged but was also supported educationally. His first
experiences in an alien field situation were under the umbrella of the
Harvard Solomon Islands Project (HSIP) where he worked with a large
professional research team. In many ways, working with a team is an
excellent means of introduction to socially-, culturally-, and physically-
demanding field conditions (similar to my own experience). Later that
same year (1966), after gaining some knowledge of the area and its

-v-
 Friedlaender

people, he began to work on his own with Bougainville villagers, who,

until the Second World War, had had very little contact with Western
peoples. His success, during this independent research conducted
under challenging conditions, resulted from a combination of hard
work, honesty and sensitivity in dealing with his research subjects,
good luck, and good judgment. Also, Friedlaender has a cheerfulness
and pleasant nature (which might not be totally apparent from the
interview commentary), and this personality attribute probably served
him well in working with the people he studied. Those who know
Jonathan Friedlaender recognize this good nature, but one overlying a
powerful determination and creative ability.

Following this initial fieldwork in 1966-67, Friedlaender made

ten more trips to conduct research in the South Pacific. As he notes,
the early work in population genetics focused on blood constituents
(blood groups and serum proteins). He also took anthropometric
measurements, and gathered information on language distributions
which were found to parallel the patterns of genetic diversity
(extraordinary language and genetic diversity on New Guinea and
Island Melanesia characterizes this region of the South Pacific). Between
1975 and 1985, the field of population and anthropological genetics
was transformed by the development of techniques to identify DNA
directly – both mitochondrial (mtDNA) and nuclear (nDNA) DNA.
Friedlaender and most other geneticists had to make this transition
from the genetics of phenotypic inference to the genetics of DNA
analysis. Friedlaender also provides insightful commentary on the
failed Human Genome Diversity Project and the politics of the time,
the changing conditions of field research in Melanesia from the mid-
1960s to the present, the ethical challenges that were presented early
on and how they have changed through time, and how the roles of
women students and professionals in the field have changed over the
past half century. The final section of this work discusses in some detail
both the theoretical and material outcomes of this important research
and the prospects for future investigation of genomics.

Friedlaender's book should have appeal to a number of audiences –

students, professional anthropologists, and lay readers, alike. It might
serve as a primer for all those about to embark on research in the South
- vi -
 From Anthropometry to Genomics

Pacific, and as a valuable text on field research, particularly the practical

aspects and ethics of field research. Perhaps, the book's most valuable
contribution is as a chronicle of the history of the small, but significant,
science of human population genetics and its development. Much of
human population genetics today has arisen from anthropological
interests in human biobehavioral evolution. Jonathan Friedlaender's
Reflections is a valuable addition to the historical record of this important
science. This is also a worthwhile book to read for anyone with interests
in the history of science or the history of a science.

Michael A. Little
Anthropology Department
Binghamton University
September 2009

- vii -
 Preface
The genesis of this publication was an interview of Dr. Jonathan
Friedlaender I conducted over two days in December 2008. Earlier
that fall, I had approached Dr. Friedlaender with the hope that he
might be willing to reflect upon his career for the benefit of my research
as a doctoral candidate in the history and sociology of science at the
University of Pennsylvania. I was interested in fieldwork practices of
biological anthropologists who had been influential in incorporating the
techniques of population genetics. He sat with me for over eight hours
of interviews in a quiet corner of Temple University’s Anthropology
Lab. Following the interviews, Dr. Friedlaender and I worked together
as I transcribed portions for him to review. Reading these recollections
stimulated new memories and insights and these were added to the
transcript, which Dr. Friedlaender reorganized to enhance clarity and
readability. The resulting document retains the conversational tone of
the oral history interview, but may be more practically considered a
scientific memoir.

When he learned of it, Dr. Michael Little, who has major interests
in the history of biological anthropology, strongly encouraged us to
formally publish this manuscript. We are grateful for his suggestion
and enthusiasm.

Dr. Friedlaender’s career was of particular interest to me because its

arc reflected important changes in the application of genetic, and later
genomic, techniques to the study of human history. This document,
which he adapted from our interview, situates those changes in the
context of his early life in an assimilationist Jewish family in the
segregated South, numerous fieldtrips among South Pacific villagers,
his intellectual development at Harvard and Wisconsin during the
Vietnam and post-Vietnam War period, and subsequent controversies
concerning Sociobiology, Non-Darwinian evolution, the Human
Genome Diversity Project, and gene patenting, among others.

Because this document is intended for a heterogeneous audience,

readers may wish to focus on those sections that best satisfy their interests.

- ix -
 Friedlaender

The first two chapters include details about Dr. Friedlaender’s formative
years with particular attention to his family, childhood interests, and
schooling. The next several chapters consider his relationship to his
teachers at Harvard and his early experiences as an anthropologist in the
field and the classroom. This portion focuses on personal, intellectual,
and practical considerations of profound influence on the trajectory of
his career. In the final few chapters, readers will find reflections on the
practice, politics, and contemporary societal and ethical implications
of anthropological genomics as it has emerged over the last several
decades.

The process of producing this memoir motivated Dr. Friedlaender

to begin gathering up letters, photographs, and video from his time in
the field. The Melanesian Archive at the University of California, San
Diego has now accepted the donation of Dr. Friedlaender’s materials,
including the raw transcripts and original audio files from the interview,
which will make them accessible to a wide audience.

All proceeds associated with the sale of this book will be donated
to the Library Fund of the Institute of Medical Research in Goroka,
Papua New Guinea.

It has been a special experience to take part in the production of

this document and I thank Dr. Friedlaender for his enthusiasm, candor
and thoughtfulness.

Joanna Radin
Department of the History of Science and Sociology
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Summer 2009

-x-
 Table of Contents

Foreword by Michael Little . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Preface by Joanna Radin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Acknowledgement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Photo Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
Vital Statistics, Jonathan Friedlaender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Chapter 1. Family Background and Early Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 2. Graduate School: Deciding What to Do (And Where) . . 11
Chapter 3. The 1966-1967 Harvard Solomon Islands Expedition. . . 49
Chapter 4. Going Solo: 1965-1966 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Chapter 5. Thoughts on the First Year of Fieldwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Chapter 6. Wisconsin: 1969-1971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Chapter 7. Harvard: 1971-78 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Chapter 8. Temple and the Follow-up Pacific Fieldtrips: 1978-1986 . .137
Chapter 9. The National Science Foundation: 1991-1995 . . . . . . . 156
Chapter 10. Fieldwork in the Bismarck Archipelago: 1998-2003 . . . 167
Chapter 11. Analysis of the New Genetic Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Chapter 12. Some Final Opinions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Chapter 13. What Have We Learned?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Postscript. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
APPENDIX 1: Jonathan Friedlaender’s Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
APPENDIX 2: Fieldwork History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

- xv -
 Postscript

I was flattered and pleased when Joanna Radin first approached

me about doing an oral history, and I hope that you have found
this edited version with the added photos interesting and perhaps
entertaining as well.

In retrospect, the process made me realize a number of points about

my career that I would like to underline.

First off, it is apparent just how fortunate I was to be in certain

situations and environments at particular times. My parents strongly
encouraged my education and scholarship, which was an extraordinary
gift. If I did not pursue science and mathematics training with
conviction in secondary school and college, I was influenced to develop
a strong skeptical and critical sense at Exeter and Harvard. While I was
easily bored or dismissive of many teachers or colleagues, there were a
few good ones that caught my attention, sometimes intimidated me,
and influenced my ideas and plans. It is clear that I was often attracted
to particular individual personalities as much as, or more than, to their
ideas. Many early decisions I made were not well thought through,
and I was just lucky some worked out so well. In particular, being a
graduate student and junior faculty member at Harvard during the
post-Vietnam period, with the evolutionary controversies swirling
around the work of Mayr, Simpson, Wilson, and Lewontin, as well
as learning and evaluating the anthropological approaches of Howells,
Damon, and others, made me think that all this was important and
worth devoting my professional life to. Having the chance to tag along
on the Harvard Solomon Islands Expedition was obviously a major
turning point, and I never regretted my commitment to the Southwest
Pacific afterwards. Amorous concerns were more important than one
might like to acknowledge, sometimes much for the better (as with
Françoise), and sometimes for the worse. Balancing extensive fieldwork
stays with marriage was difficult in my life, for example. I think that is
a common thread in many anthropologists’ careers.
- 225 -
 Friedlaender

Certain aspects of my personality were also important (again for

better or worse). I have a somewhat cautious and passive nature typical
of second children. Understanding new approaches or concepts was
never easy for me – their logic took a while to sink in. While I was
often attracted to new paradigms, I usually was equally quick to look
for their weaknesses. No one could say I was single-minded in a drive to
become a human evolutionist interested in Pacific genetics. However, I
was always interested in how things got to be the way they are (whether
it was the development of Western civilization, the evolution of art
styles, or human biological evolution). My interest in human genetic
variation was not something that evolved over the course of my career.
It was there early on, along with many others. However, it was only
recently that the power of genomics enabled us to realize the potential
to describe human population relationships and history, and I took
advantage of that, with the critical help of others.

Many of my “decisions” were more in the nature of deciding not

to pursue certain interests of mine. The first rejection was classical
archaeology and then cultural anthropology. Later, I turned away from
primate behavior studies because I thought their explanations lacked
rigor. Teasing apart hereditary and environmental factors in behavior
studies with statistical approaches gave misleading or unsatisfactory
results. It is only now that geneticists are beginning to have some success
in identifying how certain genes, or sometimes many dozens of genes,
can contribute in a significant way to clinical psychological conditions,
for example, or can influence essential human characteristics such as
speech. This is finally becoming exciting.

Although cautious and critical, I still could be quick to decide on a

course of action in the field. Once I had the chance to go to Melanesia,
I made a prompt and decisive decision about which island to study,
what problems to study, and what information to collect. Bougainville
had considerable linguistic diversity, but it appeared to be manageable
to survey, unlike New Guinea. Subsequent research decisions followed
logically from that, although not always in a linear sequence.

Looking back, I’m pleased that our studies, coupled with those
from other regions, have now established the broad outlines of human
- 226 -
 From Anthropometry to Genomics

population relationships, and I am confident that our conclusions will

not be significantly altered in the future. In terms of my career, I’m
also happy that I chose to become a biological anthropologist. I could
probably also have become a decent physician, a classical art historian,
or even a Foreign Service officer. I’m sure, however, that I never would
have been a good or happy businessman or lawyer.

Jonathan S. Friedlaender

Sharon, CT
Summer 2009

Returning from work. Foueda, Lau Lagoon. 1978.

- 227 -