Few scholars or scientists, even those much published and long-lived, leave singular, indelible imprints on their disciplines,. Yet, Raymond Lindeman, in 26 short years, who published just six articles, was described shortly after his death by G. E. Hutchinson as "one of the most creative and generous minds yet to devote itself to ecological science," and the last of those six papers, "The Trophic-Dynamic Aspect of Ecology,"—published posthumously in 1942—continues to be considered one of the foundational papers in ecology, an article "path-breaking in its general analysis of ecological succession in terms of energy flow through the ecosystem," an article based on an idea that Edward Kormondy has called "the most significant formulation in the development of modern ecology."

Immediately after completing his doctorate at the University of Minnesota, Lindeman accepted a one-year Sterling fellowship at Yale University...