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Linnean Society of London

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The Linnean Society of London
Formation1788; 235 years ago (1788) (royal charter: 1802)
TypeLearned society
PurposeNatural History, Evolution & Taxonomy
Location
Membership
3,145 (as of 2021)[1]
President
Anjali Goswami
Websitewww.linnean.org
RemarksMotto: Naturae Discere Mores
("To Learn the Ways of Nature")

The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collections, and publishes academic journals and books on plant and animal biology. The society also awards a number of prestigious medals and prizes.

A product of the 18th-century enlightenment, the society is the oldest extant biological society in the world and is historically important as the venue for the first public presentation of the theory of evolution by natural selection on 1 July 1858.

The patron of the society was Queen Elizabeth II. Honorary members include: King Charles III of Great Britain, Emeritus Emperor Akihito of Japan, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (both of the latter have active interests in natural history), and the eminent naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough.[2]

Discover more about Linnean Society of London related topics

Learned society

Learned society

A learned society is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and science. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honour conferred by election.

Natural history

Natural history

Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is called a naturalist or natural historian.

Evolution

Evolution

In biology, evolution is the change in heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation tends to exist within any given population as a result of genetic mutation and recombination. Evolution occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on this variation, resulting in certain characteristics becoming more common or more rare within a population. The evolutionary pressures that determine whether a characteristic is common or rare within a population constantly change, resulting in a change in heritable characteristics arising over successive generations. It is this process of evolution that has given rise to biodiversity at every level of biological organisation.

Taxonomy (biology)

Taxonomy (biology)

In biology, taxonomy is the scientific study of naming, defining (circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa and these groups are given a taxonomic rank; groups of a given rank can be aggregated to form a more inclusive group of higher rank, thus creating a taxonomic hierarchy. The principal ranks in modern use are domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. The Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus is regarded as the founder of the current system of taxonomy, as he developed a ranked system known as Linnaean taxonomy for categorizing organisms and binomial nomenclature for naming organisms.

Academic journal

Academic journal

An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and discussion of research. They nearly universally require peer review or other scrutiny from contemporaries competent and established in their respective fields. Content typically takes the form of articles presenting original research, review articles, or book reviews. The purpose of an academic journal, according to Henry Oldenburg, is to give researchers a venue to "impart their knowledge to one another, and contribute what they can to the Grand design of improving natural knowledge, and perfecting all Philosophical Arts, and Sciences."

Age of Enlightenment

Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries with global influences and effects. The Enlightenment included a range of ideas centered on the value of human happiness, the pursuit of knowledge obtained by means of reason and the evidence of the senses, and ideals such as natural law, liberty, progress, toleration, fraternity, constitutional government, and separation of church and state.

Natural selection

Natural selection

Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charles Darwin popularised the term "natural selection", contrasting it with artificial selection, which is intentional, whereas natural selection is not.

Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during her lifetime and was head of state of 15 realms at the time of her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch and the longest verified reign of any female monarch in history.

Akihito

Akihito

Akihito is the Emperor Emeritus of Japan who reigned as the 125th Emperor of Japan from 7 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. He presided over the Heisei (平成) era, Heisei being an expression of achieving peace worldwide.

Japan

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, and Taiwan in the south. Japan is a part of the Ring of Fire, and spans an archipelago of 14,125 islands, with the five main islands being Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa. Tokyo is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kobe, and Kyoto.

David Attenborough

David Attenborough

Sir David Frederick Attenborough is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural history documentary series forming the Life collection, a comprehensive survey of animal and plant life on Earth.

History

Founding

Burlington House: the Linnean Society occupies the range to the left of, and above, the entrance arch.
Burlington House: the Linnean Society occupies the range to the left of, and above, the entrance arch.
The society's premises in Burlington House seen from within the courtyard.
The society's premises in Burlington House seen from within the courtyard.
The first admission of women as fellows of the society in 1905, Emma Louisa Turner is on the far left, Lilian J. Veley is shown signing the membership book, whilst Lady Crisp receives the 'hand of Fellowship' from the president, William Abbott Herdman, behind Lilian J. Veley and standing is Constance Sladen – from a painting by James Sant (1820–1916)
The first admission of women as fellows of the society in 1905, Emma Louisa Turner is on the far left, Lilian J. Veley is shown signing the membership book, whilst Lady Crisp receives the 'hand of Fellowship' from the president, William Abbott Herdman, behind Lilian J. Veley and standing is Constance Sladen – from a painting by James Sant (1820–1916)
The library of the Linnean Society, Burlington House
The library of the Linnean Society, Burlington House
A display of Alfred Russel Wallace notebooks in the Linnean Society library
A display of Alfred Russel Wallace notebooks in the Linnean Society library
Muscicapa malachura (the Southern emu-wren), a new species from New South Wales, by Thomas Davies, 1798, Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 4, facing page 242
Muscicapa malachura (the Southern emu-wren), a new species from New South Wales, by Thomas Davies, 1798, Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 4, facing page 242

The Linnean Society was founded in 1788 by botanist Sir James Edward Smith. The society takes its name from the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus, the 'father of taxonomy', who systematised biological classification through his binomial nomenclature. He was known as Carl von Linné after his ennoblement, hence the spelling 'Linnean', rather than 'Linnaean'. The society had a number of minor name variations before it gained its Royal Charter on 26 March 1802, when the name became fixed as "The Linnean Society of London". In 1802, as a newly incorporated society, it comprised 228 fellows. It is the oldest extant natural history society in the world.[3]: 2, 19  Throughout its history the society has been a non-political and non-sectarian institution, existing solely for the furtherance of natural history.[3]: 148 

The inception of the society was the direct result of the purchase by Sir James Edward Smith of the specimen, book and correspondence collections of Carl Linnaeus. When the collection was offered for sale by Linnaeus's heirs, Smith was urged to acquire it by Sir Joseph Banks, the eminent botanist and president of the Royal Society. Five years after this purchase Banks gave Smith his full support in founding the Linnean Society, and became one of its first Honorary Members.[4]

Prominent members

The society has numbered many prominent scientists amongst its fellows. One such was the botanist Robert Brown, who was librarian, and later president (1849–1853); he named the cell nucleus and discovered Brownian motion.[5] In 1854 Charles Darwin was elected a fellow; he is undoubtedly the most illustrious scientist ever to appear on the membership rolls of the society.[3]: 53  Another famous fellow was biologist Thomas Huxley, who would later gain the nickname "Darwin's bulldog" for his outspoken defence of Darwin and evolution. Men notable in other walks of life have also been fellows of the society, including the physician Edward Jenner, pioneer of vaccination, the Arctic explorers Sir John Franklin and Sir James Clark Ross, colonial administrator and founder of Singapore, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles and Prime Minister of Britain, Lord Aberdeen.[3]: 50, 53 197-198 

Biological evolution and the society

The first public exposition of the 'Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection', arguably the greatest single leap of progress made in biology, was presented to a meeting of the Linnean Society on 1 July 1858. At this meeting a joint presentation of papers by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace was made, sponsored by Joseph Hooker and Charles Lyell as neither author could be present.[6]: 288–289 

The society's connection with evolution remained strong into the 20th century. Sir Edward Poulton, who was president 1912–1916, was a great defender of natural selection, and was the first biologist to recognise the importance of frequency-dependent selection.[3]: 95 [7]

Female fellows

In 1904 the society elected its first female fellows, following a number of years of tireless campaigning by the botanist Marian Farquharson. Whilst the society's council was reluctant to admit women, the wider fellowship was more supportive; only 17% voted against the proposal. Among the first to benefit from this were the ornithologist and photographer Emma Louisa Turner, Lilian J. Veley, a microbiologist and Annie Lorrain Smith, a lichenologist and mycologist, all formally admitted on 19 January 1905.[3]: 88 

Also numbered in the first cohort of women to be elected in 1904 were: the paleobotanist, and later pioneer of family planning, Marie Stopes, the philanthropist Constance Sladen, founder of the Percy Sladen Memorial Trust and Alice Laura Embleton (1876–1960), biologist, zoologist and suffragist, who had been one of the earliest women to deliver a paper to the society on 4 Jun 1903.[8][9][10][11] Although others were admitted in 1904, Marian Farquharson "was shamefully blackballed" as the society now states, until admitted in 1908.[12]

The painting "Admission of Lady Fellows" by James Sant R.A., which hangs on the upper staircase, shows the eleven women signing the society's Book of Admission and Obligation on 19 January 1905. The painting was altered to remove the figures of T R R Stebbing, the Zoological Secretary, and his wife, Mary Anne, from the right hand side sometime before the painting was presented to the society in 1919.[13]

The first female president of the society was Irene Manton (1973 to 1976), who pioneered the biological use of electron microscopy. Her work revealed the structure of the flagellum and cilia, which are central to many systems of cellular motility.[14][15]

Present interests

Recent years have seen an increased interest within the society in issues of biodiversity conservation. This was highlighted by the inception in 2015 of an annual award, the John Spedan Lewis Medal, specifically honouring persons making significant and innovative contributions to conservation.[16]

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Emma Louisa Turner

Emma Louisa Turner

Emma Louisa Turner or E L Turner was an English ornithologist and pioneering bird photographer. Turner took up photography at age 34, after meeting the wildlife photographer Richard Kearton. She joined the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) in 1901, and by 1904 she had started to give talks illustrated with her own photographic slides; by 1908, when aged 41, she was established as a professional lecturer.

Constance Sladen

Constance Sladen

Constance Sladen was an artist, architectural historian, and philanthropist who was one of the first female members of the Linnean Society of London and founded the Percy Sladen Memorial Trust in memory of her late husband.

Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace was an English naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural selection. His 1858 paper on the subject was published that year alongside extracts from Charles Darwin's earlier writings on the topic. It spurred Darwin to set aside the "big species book" he was drafting, and quickly write an abstract of it, published in 1859 as On the Origin of Species.

New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. The Australian Capital Territory and Jervis Bay Territory are enclaves within the state. New South Wales' state capital is Sydney, which is also Australia's most populous city. In December 2021, the population of New South Wales was over 8 million, making it Australia's most populous state. Just under two-thirds of the state's population, 5.3 million, live in the Greater Sydney area.

James Edward Smith (botanist)

James Edward Smith (botanist)

Sir James Edward Smith was an English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society.

Carl Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné, was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms. He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy". Many of his writings were in Latin; his name is rendered in Latin as Carolus Linnæus and, after his 1761 ennoblement, as Carolus a Linné.

Binomial nomenclature

Binomial nomenclature

In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature, also called binominal nomenclature or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, although they can be based on words from other languages. Such a name is called a binomial name, a binomen, binominal name or a scientific name; more informally it is also historically called a Latin name.

Joseph Banks

Joseph Banks

Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences.

Cell nucleus

Cell nucleus

The cell nucleus is a membrane-bound organelle found in eukaryotic cells. Eukaryotic cells usually have a single nucleus, but a few cell types, such as mammalian red blood cells, have no nuclei, and a few others including osteoclasts have many. The main structures making up the nucleus are the nuclear envelope, a double membrane that encloses the entire organelle and isolates its contents from the cellular cytoplasm; and the nuclear matrix, a network within the nucleus that adds mechanical support.

Brownian motion

Brownian motion

Brownian motion, or pedesis, is the random motion of particles suspended in a medium.

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended from a common ancestor is now generally accepted and considered a fundamental concept in science. In a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding. Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history and was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey.

Edward Jenner

Edward Jenner

Edward Jenner, was an English physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines and created the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. The terms vaccine and vaccination are derived from Variolae vaccinae, the term devised by Jenner to denote cowpox. He used it in 1798 in the title of his Inquiry into the Variolae vaccinae known as the Cow Pox, in which he described the protective effect of cowpox against smallpox.

Locations

The society has had a number of different homes, initially meeting in Marlborough Coffee House (1788), before moving to Panton Square in 1795, then Gerrard Street, Soho in 1805, and Soho Square in 1821.[17] Since 1857 the society has been based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London; an address it shares with a number of other learned societies: the Geological Society of London, the Royal Astronomical Society, the Society of Antiquaries of London and the Royal Society of Chemistry.[3]: 51 

In April 1939 the threat of war obliged the society to relocate the Linnean collections out of London to Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire, where they remained for the duration of World War II. This move was facilitated by the 12th Duke of Bedford, a Fellow of the Linnean Society himself. Three thousand of the most precious items from the library collections were packed up and evacuated to Oxford; the country house of librarian Warren Royal Dawson provided a refuge for the society's records.[3]: 110 

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Soho

Soho

Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.

Burlington House

Burlington House

Burlington House is a building on Piccadilly in Mayfair, London. It was originally a private Neo-Palladian mansion owned by the Earls of Burlington and was expanded in the mid-19th century after being purchased by the British government. Today, the Royal Academy and five learned societies occupy much of the building.

Piccadilly

Piccadilly

Piccadilly is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, Heathrow Airport and the M4 motorway westward. St James's is to the south of the eastern section, while the western section is built up only on the northern side. Piccadilly is just under 1 mile (1.6 km) in length, and it is one of the widest and straightest streets in central London.

London

London

London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a 50-mile (80 km) estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as Londinium and retains its medieval boundaries. The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which since 1965 has largely comprised Greater London, which is governed by 33 local authorities and the Greater London Authority.

Geological Society of London

Geological Society of London

The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe, with more than 12,000 Fellows.

Royal Astronomical Society

Royal Astronomical Society

The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its headquarters are in Burlington House, on Piccadilly in London. The society has over 4,000 members ("Fellows"), most of them professional researchers or postgraduate students. Around a quarter of Fellows live outside the UK.

Society of Antiquaries of London

Society of Antiquaries of London

The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, and is a registered charity.

Royal Society of Chemistry

Royal Society of Chemistry

The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the Faraday Society, and the Society for Analytical Chemistry with a new Royal Charter and the dual role of learned society and professional body. At its inception, the Society had a combined membership of 34,000 in the UK and a further 8,000 abroad. The headquarters of the Society are at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London. It also has offices in Thomas Graham House in Cambridge where RSC Publishing is based. The Society has offices in the United States, on the campuses of The University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University, at the University City Science Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in both Beijing and Shanghai, China and in Bangalore, India.

Woburn Abbey

Woburn Abbey

Woburn Abbey, occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors, along with the diverse estate surrounding it, including the historic landscape gardens and deer park, as well as more recently added attractions including Woburn Safari Park, a miniature railway and a garden/visitor centre.

Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire is a ceremonial, non-metropolitan, and historic county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east and east, Hertfordshire to the south and south-east, and Buckinghamshire to the west. Since Bedfordshire County Council was abolished in 2009, the county has been administered by the three unitary authorities of the Borough of Bedford, Borough of Luton, and Central Bedfordshire. It is the fourteenth most densely populated county of England, with over half the population of the county living in the two largest built-up areas: Luton (258,018) and Bedford (106,940). Its highest elevation point is 243 metres (797 ft) on Dunstable Downs in the Chilterns.

Hastings Russell, 12th Duke of Bedford

Hastings Russell, 12th Duke of Bedford

Hastings William Sackville Russell, 12th Duke of Bedford was a British peer. He was born at Cairnsmore House, Minnigaff, Kirkcudbrightshire, the son of Herbrand Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford, and his wife Mary Du Caurroy Tribe, the aviator and ornithologist. He was known for both his career as a naturalist and for his involvement in far-right politics.

Warren Royal Dawson

Warren Royal Dawson

Warren Royal Dawson OBE FRSE FRSM FZS FSA FLS FRSL was an English librarian, insurance agent, Egyptologist and antiquarian.

Membership

Fellowship requires nomination by at least one fellow, and election by a minimum of two-thirds of those electors voting. Fellows may employ the post-nominal letters 'FLS'. Fellowship is open to both professional scientists and to amateur naturalists who have shown active interest in natural history and allied disciplines. Having authored relevant publications is an advantage, but not a necessity, for election. Following election, new fellows must be formally admitted, in person at a meeting of the society, before they are able to vote in society elections. Admission takes the form of signing the membership book, and thereby agreeing to an obligation to abide by the statutes of the society. Following this the new fellow is taken by the hand by the president, who recites a formula of admission to the fellowship.[3]: 195, 198–202 [18]

Other forms of membership exist: 'Associate' (or 'ALS'), for supporters of the society who do not wish to submit to the formal election process for fellowship, and 'Student Associate', for those registered as students at a place of tertiary education. Associate members may apply for election to the fellowship at any time.[3]: 195, 198–202 [18]

Finally, there are three types of membership that are prestigious and strictly limited in number: 'Fellow honoris causa', 'Foreign', and lastly, 'Honorary'. These forms of membership are bestowed following election by the fellowship at the annual Anniversary Meeting in May.[3]: 195, 198–202 [18]

Meetings

Meetings have historically been, and continue to be, the main justification for the society's existence. Meetings are venues for people of like interests to exchange information, talk about scientific and literary concerns, exhibit specimens, and listen to lectures. Today, meetings are held in the evening and also at lunchtime. Most are open to the general public as well as to members, and the majority are offered without charge for admission.[3]: 149–152 

On or near 24 May, traditionally regarded as the birthday of Carl Linnaeus, the Anniversary Meeting is held. This is for fellows and guests only, and includes ballots for membership of the council of the society and the awarding of medals.[3]: 149–152  On 22 May 2020, for the first time in its history, the Anniversary Meeting was held online via videotelephony. This was due to restrictions on public gatherings imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Medals and prizes

The Linnean Society of London aims to promote the study of all aspects of the biological sciences, with particular emphasis on evolution, taxonomy, biodiversity, and sustainability. Through awarding medals and grants, the society acknowledges and encourages excellence in all of these fields.[19][3]: 165–174 

The following medals and prizes are awarded by the Linnean Society:

  • Linnean Medal, established 1888, awarded annually to alternately a botanist or a zoologist or (as has been common since 1958) to one of each in the same year.
  • Darwin-Wallace Medal, first awarded in 1908, for major advances in evolutionary biology.
  • H. H. Bloomer Award, established 1963 from a legacy by the amateur naturalist Harry Howard Bloomer, awarded "an amateur naturalist who has made an important contribution to biological knowledge"
  • Trail-Crisp Award, established in 1966 from the amalgamation of two previous awards – both dating to 1910 – awarded "in recognition of an outstanding contribution to biological microscopy that has been published in the UK".
  • Bicentenary Medal, established 1978, on the 200th anniversary of the death of Linnaeus, "in recognition of work done by a person under the age of 40 years".
  • Jill Smythies Award, established 1986, awarded for botanical illustrations.
  • Linnean Gold Medal, For services to the society – awarded in exceptional circumstances, from 1988.
  • Irene Manton Prize, established 1990, for the best dissertation in botany during an academic year.
  • Linnean Tercentenary Medal, awarded in 2007 in celebration of the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Linnaeus.
  • John C Marsden Medal, established 2012, for the best doctoral thesis in biology examined during a single academic year.
  • John Spedan Lewis Medal, established 2015, awarded to "an individual who is making a significant and innovative contribution to conservation".
  • Sir David Attenborough Award for Fieldwork, established in 2015.

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Linnean Medal

Linnean Medal

The Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society of London was established in 1888, and is awarded annually to alternately a botanist or a zoologist or to one of each in the same year. The medal was of gold until 1976, and is for the preceding years often referred to as "the Gold Medal of the Linnean Society", not to be confused with the official Linnean Gold Medal which is seldom awarded.

H. H. Bloomer Award

H. H. Bloomer Award

The H. H. Bloomer Award is an award of the Linnean Society, established in 1963 from a legacy by the amateur naturalist Harry Howard Bloomer, which is awarded to "an amateur naturalist who has made an important contribution to biological knowledge." The recipients, alternatively a botanist and a zoologist, are presented with a silver medal and a donation from the Fund.

Trail-Crisp Award

Trail-Crisp Award

The Trail-Crisp Award, of the Linnean Society of London, was established in 1966 and is an amalgamation of The Trail Award and The Crisp Award. The Trail-Crisp Award is presented at intervals "in recognition of an outstanding contribution to biological microscopy that has been published in the UK".

Bicentenary Medal of the Linnean Society

Bicentenary Medal of the Linnean Society

The Bicentenary Medal is a scientific award given by the Linnean Society. It is awarded annually in recognition of work done by a biologist under the age of 40 years. The medal was first awarded in 1978 on the 200th anniversary of the death of Carl Linnaeus.

Jill Smythies Award

Jill Smythies Award

The Jill Smythies Award of the Linnean Society of London was established in 1986 and is awarded annually to a botanical artist.

Linnean Gold Medal

Linnean Gold Medal

The Linnean Gold Medal is a medal awarded by the Linnean Society of London in "special circumstances" for "services to the Society". As the society's highest honour it has, to date, only been awarded three times.

Irene Manton Prize

Irene Manton Prize

The Irene Manton Prize of the Linnean Society of London is awarded annually for the "best thesis in botany examined for a doctorate of philosophy during a single academic year" in the United Kingdom.

Linnean Tercentenary Medal

Linnean Tercentenary Medal

The Linnean Tercentenary Medal was commissioned in 2007 by the Linnean Society to commemorate the tercentenary of the birth of Carl Linnaeus. Recipients were in two categories: Silver Medal and Bronze Medal, for outstanding contributions to natural history.

Collections

Linnaeus' botanical and zoological collections were purchased in 1783 by Sir James Edward Smith, the first president of the society, and are now held in London by the society.[20] The collections include 14,000 plants, 158 fish, 1,564 shells, 3,198 insects, 1,600 books and 3,000 letters and documents. They may be viewed by appointment and there is a monthly tour of the collections.[21]

Smith's own plant collection of 27,185 dried specimens, together with his correspondence and book collection, is also held by the society.[22]

Other notable holdings of the society include the notebooks and journals of Alfred Russel Wallace and the paintings of plants and animals made by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton (1762–1829) in Nepal.[23]

In December 2014, the society's specimen, library, and archive collections were granted designated status by the Arts Council England, recognising collections of national and international importance (one of only 152 institutions so recognised as of 2020).[24]

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Zoology

Zoology

Zoology is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. The term is derived from Ancient Greek ζῷον, zōion ('animal'), and λόγος, logos.

Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace was an English naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural selection. His 1858 paper on the subject was published that year alongside extracts from Charles Darwin's earlier writings on the topic. It spurred Darwin to set aside the "big species book" he was drafting, and quickly write an abstract of it, published in 1859 as On the Origin of Species.

Francis Buchanan-Hamilton

Francis Buchanan-Hamilton

Francis Buchanan FRS FRSE FLS, later known as Francis Hamilton but often referred to as Francis Buchanan-Hamilton, was a Scottish physician who made significant contributions as a geographer, zoologist, and botanist while living in India. He did not assume the name of Hamilton until three years after his retirement from India.

Nepal

Nepal

Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, bordering the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, and India in the south, east, and west, while it is narrowly separated from Bangladesh by the Siliguri Corridor, and from Bhutan by the Indian state of Sikkim. Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural state, with Nepali as the official language. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and the largest city.

Arts Council England

Arts Council England

Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. The arts funding system in England underwent considerable reorganisation in 2002 when all of the regional arts boards were subsumed into Arts Council England and became regional offices of the national organisation.

Publications

The Linnean Society began its extensive series of publications on 13 August 1791, when Volume I of Transactions was produced. Over the following centuries the society published a number of different journals, some of which specialised in more specific subject areas, whilst earlier publications were discontinued.[3]: 153–164 

Those still in publication include: the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, which covers the evolutionary biology of all organisms, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, which focuses on plant sciences, and Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society focusing on animal systematics and evolution. In 2022, the society launched the Evolutionary Journal of the Linnean Society, its first fully open access scholarly publication.[25] The Linnean is a biannual newsletter. It contains commentary on recent activities and events, articles on history and science, and occasional biographies/obituaries of people connected to the Linnean Society; it also includes book reviews, reference material and correspondence. The society also publishes books and Synopses of the British Fauna, a series of field-guides.[3]: 153–164 

Previously, an electronic magazine for Fellows, Pulse, was produced quarterly. This ceased publication in 2021.[26]

Discover more about Publications related topics

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

The Biological Journal of the Linnean Society is a direct descendant of the oldest biological journal in the world, the Transactions of the Linnean Society. It succeeded the earlier title in 1969. The journal specializes in evolution, and encompasses work across all taxonomic groups in all five kingdoms of living organisms. It includes all methods, whole-organism or molecular, practical or theoretical.

Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society

Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society

The Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society is a scientific journal publishing original papers relating to the taxonomy of all plant groups and fungi, including anatomy, biosystematics, cytology, ecology, ethnobotany, electron microscopy, morphogenesis, palaeobotany, palynology and phytochemistry.

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

The Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering zoology published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Linnean Society. The editor-in-chief is Maarten Christenhusz. It was established in 1856 as the Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London. Zoology and renamed Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Zoology in 1866. It obtained its current title in 1969.

Open access

Open access

Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. Under some models of open access publishing, barriers to copying or reuse are also reduced or removed by applying an open license for copyright.

Presidents

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Anjali Goswami

Anjali Goswami

Anjali Goswami is a Resesarch Leader and Dean of the Graduate Centre at the Natural History Museum. She is an Honorary Professor of Paleobiology at University College London (UCL) in the Department of Genetics, Evolution, and Environment. She was elected President of the Linnean Society of London, in 2022 and is the first person of colour elected to this role since its founding in 1788. Goswami's expertise is in vertebrate evolution and development, particularly using high-resolution 3D images of specimens to quantify and reconstruct the evolution of biodiversity and understand how development, ecology and large-scale environmental effects have shaped animal evolution through deep time.

Dianne Edwards

Dianne Edwards

Professor Dianne Edwards CBE, FRS, FRSE, FLS, FLSW is a palaeobotanist, who studies the colonisation of land by plants, and early land plant interactions.

David F. Cutler

David F. Cutler

David Frederick Cutler PPLS is an English botanist and plant anatomist.

Gordon McGregor Reid

Gordon McGregor Reid

Gordon McGregor Reid PPFLS was Director General and Chief Executive of the North of England Zoological Society, popularly known as Chester Zoo. He stepped down in 2010. The North of England Zoological Society is an independent charity for conservation, education and science. It is also one of the leading wildlife attractions in the UK, receiving well over one million paying guests each year.

David Smith (botanist)

David Smith (botanist)

Sir David Cecil Smith was a British botanist. Smith was most notable for his research into the biology of symbiosis and became a leading authority on it. Smith discovered that lichens and Radiata (coelenterates) shared a similar biological mechanism in carbohydrate metabolism. Further research by Smith demonstrated similar processes in organisms that worked within a symbiotic relationship.

Ghillean Prance

Ghillean Prance

Sir Ghillean Tolmie Prance is a prominent British botanist and ecologist who has published extensively on the taxonomy of families such as Chrysobalanaceae and Lecythidaceae, but drew particular attention in documenting the pollination ecology of Victoria amazonica. Prance is a former Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Brian G. Gardiner (biologist)

Brian G. Gardiner (biologist)

Brian George Gardiner PPLS was a British palaeontologist and zoologist, specialising in the study of fossil fish (palaeoichthyology).

Humphry Greenwood

Humphry Greenwood

Peter Humphry Greenwood FRS FIBiol was an English ichthyologist. Humphry married fellow student Marjorie George in 1950. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1985. He was known for his work on the species flocks of cichlids in the African Great Lakes, and for studies of the phylogeny and systematics of teleosts.

Irene Manton

Irene Manton

Irene Manton, FRS FLS was a British botanist who was Professor of Botany at the University of Leeds. She was noted for study of ferns and algae.

Alexander Cave

Alexander Cave

Alexander James Edward Cave was a British anatomist.

Arthur Roy Clapham

Arthur Roy Clapham

Arthur Roy Clapham CBE, FRS, was a British botanist. Born in Norwich and educated at Downing College, Cambridge, Clapham worked at Rothamsted Experimental Station as a crop physiologist (1928–30), and then took a teaching post in the botany department at Oxford University. He was Professor of Botany at Sheffield University 1944–69 and vice chancellor of the university during the 1960s. He coauthored the Flora of the British Isles, which was the first, and for several decades the only, comprehensive flora of the British Isles published in 1952 and followed by new editions in 1962 and 1987. In response to a request from Arthur Tansley, he coined the term ecosystem in the early 1930s.

Errol White

Errol White

Errol Ivor White CBE FRS FLS FGS was a British geologist. He was President of the Ray Society from 1956 to 1959 and President of the Linnean Society of London from 1964 to 1967.

Arms

Coat of arms of Linnean Society of London
Linnean Society of London Coat of Arms.svg
Crest
On a wreath of the colours behind a mount in which vegetates the linnaea-borealis the sun rising in splendour all Proper.
Escutcheon
Per fesse the chief per pale Gules and Vert the base Sable on a fesse Argent a hurt charged with an egg erect Proper.
Supporters
On the dexter side a lion Or gorged with a linnaea-borealis Proper therefrom a shield pendent per pale wavy Argent and Ermine charged with a rose slipped Gules and a thistle fesseways Proper and on the sinister side an eagle rising Proper gorged as the dexter therefrom a shield pendent Argent charged with a trefoil slipped Vert.
Motto
NATURAE DISCERE MORES[27]

Fellows

For the fellows of the Linnean Society of London, see: Fellows of the Linnean Society of London

Source: "Linnean Society of London", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 11th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linnean_Society_of_London.

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See also
References
  1. ^ Annual Review 2021, Linnean Society, p. 29.
  2. ^ "Royal Patrons and Honorary Fellows". The Linnean Society.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Gage, A.T.; Stearn, W.T. (1988). A Bicentenary History of the Linnean Society of London. Linnean Society of London.
  4. ^ O'Brian, P. (1987) Joseph Banks, Collins Harvill. p. 240
  5. ^ Harris, Henry (1999). The Birth of the Cell. Yale University Press. pp. 76–81. ISBN 9780300073843.
  6. ^ Cohen, I.B. (1985). Revolution in Science. Harvard University Press.
  7. ^ Poulton, E. B. 1884. Notes upon, or suggested by, the colours, markings and protective attitudes of certain lepidopterous larvae and pupae, and of a phytophagous hymenopterous larva. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 1884: 27–60.
  8. ^ "The Linnean". 21 (2). 2005: 25. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ^ Gage, A. T. (1938). A history of the Linnean Society of London: Printed for the Linnean Society by Taylor and Francis, p. 90.
  10. ^ "EDITORIAL NOTES.|1903-06-26|The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard – Welsh Newspapers". newspapers.library.wales. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London". Internet Archive. Linnean Society of London. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  12. ^ "New Exhibition: Celebrating the Linnean Society's First Women Fellows". The Linnean Society.
  13. ^ Walker, Margot (January 1984). "Admission of Lady Fellows". The Linnean. 1 (1): 9–11.
  14. ^ Preston, Reginald Dawson (1990). "Irene Manton. 17 April 1904 – 13 May 1988". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 35: 247–261. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1990.0011.
  15. ^ Barry Leadbeater (2004). "Irene Manton: A Biography (1904–1988)". The Linnean Society: Special Issue No. 5. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.693.4850. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  16. ^ "The John Spedan Lewis Medal". The Linnean Society.
  17. ^ "The Homes of the Linnean Society". The Linnean. 4 (2): 23–32. March 1988.
  18. ^ a b c "Charter and Byelaws" (PDF). The Linnean Society. 24 May 2016.
  19. ^ "Recipients of the 2019 Medals, Awards, Prizes and Grants". linnean.org. The Linnean Society. 2019.
  20. ^ "The purchase of knowledge: James Edward Smith and the Linnean collections" (PDF). www.warwick.ac.uk. 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  21. ^ The Linnean Society of London: Linnean Collections
  22. ^ The Linnean Society of London: Smith Collections
  23. ^ Gage A. T. and Stearn W. T. (1988) A Bicentenary History of the Linnean Society of London, Linnean Society of London, pp. 175–181 (specimen collections) 183-188 (manuscript, illustration and publication collections)
  24. ^ "Four collections of national importance gain Designated Status from Arts Council". Museums + Heritage Advisor. 12 December 2014.
  25. ^ "Our Journals". The Linnean Society. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  26. ^ "Pulse". The Linnean Society of London.
  27. ^ "Linnean Society of London". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
External links

Works related to Transactions of the Linnean Society of London at Wikisource Media related to Linnean Society of London at Wikimedia Commons

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