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Douglas A. Lawson (born 1947) is a geologist, paleontologist, and computer scientist. In 1971, while working with Wann Langston, Jr., Lawson discovered a partial wing (fragments of huge wing bones imbedded in a sandstone outcropping) of what he later named ''Quetzalcoatlus'', a pterosaur, in Texas' Big Bend National Park.〔Time. 1975. Science--Lawson's Monster. (March 24).〕 Lawson found the remains of the giant pterosaur while searching for the bones of titanosaur sauropods such as ''Alamosaurus''. At the time of reporting of its discovery (1975) ''Quetzalcoatlus'' was the largest flying creature known.〔Lawson, Douglas A. 1975. "Pterosaur from the Latest Cretaceous of West Texas: Discovery of the Largest Flying Creature." ''Science'', 187: 947-948.〕 In 1976, he reassigned ''Arrhinoceratops utahensis'' to ''Torosaurus utahensis''. A fellow researcher challenged Lawson's estimates of ''Quetzalcoatlus' '' wing architecture dimensions. Lawson responded by demonstrating that, while his estimates were inconsistent with those of modern-day birds, they were, in fact, consistent with extrapolations of other pterosaurs such as ''Pterodactylus antiquus''.〔Greenwalt, Crawford H. 1975. "Could Pterosaurs Fly?". ''Science'' 188:676. and Lawson, Douglas A. 1975. "Could Pterosaurs Fly?" ''Science'' 188: 676-677.〕 Lawson’s discovery of the remains of ''Quetzalcoatlus northropi'' caused scientists to rethink both the evolution of flight and the habitats of giant fliers. In 2010, the U.S. National Park Service describes ''Quetzalcoatlus'' as the world's second largest known flying creature.〔U.S. National Park Service. 2010. (''Quetzalcoatlus Northropi'' ). Retrieved November 30, 2010.〕 Lawson appears in Sir David Attenborough's motion picture documentary, ''Flying Monsters 3D'' (2011), discussing ''Quetzalcoatlus' '' impressive wingspan and how estimates of that wingspan changed over time. Lawson's interest in evolving systems and swarming led him to develop as a computer scientist. For Southwest Airlines, Lawson used evolutionary computation methods to evaluate alternate means of passengers boarding aircraft. Based upon the behavior of ants, Lawson determined whether assigned seating would be faster than Southwest's "festival seating" by creating an ant-based routing computer simulation of passengers boarding a plane, and then trying each pattern.〔Miller, Peter. 2010. ''The Smart Swarm: How understanding flocks, schools, and colonies can make us better at communicating, decision making, and getting things done''. Avery: New York. xiii-xx.〕〔CBSNews. 2011. "Small Wonders: What ants can teach us. World Wide Web: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/07/24/sunday/main20082643.shtml . Retrieved July 27, 2011.〕 Additionally, Lawson has used ant-based routing in assigning aircraft arrivals to airport gates. At Southwest Airlines a software program uses swarm theory, or swarm intelligence—the idea that a colony of ants works better than one alone. "People don't like being only 500 yards away from a gate and having to sit out there until another aircraft leaves."〔Miller, Peter. 2007. "Swarm Theory." National Geographic 212:1, 129-147.〕 "Each pilot or plane acts like an ant searching for the best airport gate. "The pilot learns from his experience what's the best for him, and it turns out that that's the best solution for the airline," Dr. Douglas A. Lawson explains. As a result, the "colony" of pilots always go to gates they can arrive and depart quickly. The program can even alert a pilot of plane back-ups before they happen. "We can anticipate that it's going to happen, so we'll have a gate available," Dr. Lawson says〔Science Daily. 2008 (April 1). "Planes, Trains and Ant Hills: Computer scientists simulate activity of ants to reduce airline delays." World Wide Web: http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2008/0406-planes_trains_and_ant_hills.htm. Retrieved December 1, 2010.〕 Lawson was one of 100 alumni featured in Celebrating 100 Years: 1910-2010 marking the 100th anniversary of the Graduate School at the University of Texas at Austin. He was among individuals selected to represent the Jackson School of Geosciences.〔Mabley, K. (ed.) 2010. Changing the World: Stories celebrating 100 years of graduate education. Austin, Texas: The University of Texas Press.〕 ==Education== *MS in Geological Sciences, 1972, University of Texas (Austin) *PhD in Paleontology, 1977, University of California (Berkeley) 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Douglas A. Lawson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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