Bücher von Richard Owen

A significant limitation on the development of zoology, botany and palaeontology in the mid-nineteenth century was the absence of a centralised collection of specimens. Appointed superintendent of the British Museum's natural history departments in 1859, the distinguished biologist Richard Owen (1804-92) quickly realised the need to make various scattered samples more readily available for study, and began campaigning for a new, national museum with unprecedented space and resources. This book is the text of one of his speeches to the Royal Institution, given in 1861 and first published in 1862. He argues against the usual practice of exhibiting only one type form for each genus, provides possible floor plans, and presents case studies across the zoological field which show the limitations of the then current system. He also stresses a new idea, that such a museum should aim not only to help scientists, but to educate the general public.

Palaeontologist Richard Owen (1804-92) was superintendent of natural history in the British Museum and founder of the Natural History Museum. This 1866 work gives a thorough overview of vertebrate anatomy. Volume 1 deals with haematocrya, or cold-blooded vertebrates such as fishes and reptiles.

Covering a wide area of the London and Hampshire basins, the London Clay has been famous for over two hundred years as one of the richest Eocene strata in the country. In this work, first published between 1849 and 1858, Fellows of the Royal Society Richard Owen (1804-92) and Thomas Bell (1792-1880) describe their findings from among the reptilian fossils found there. The book is divided into four parts, covering chelonian, crocodilian, lacertilian and ophidian fossils, and includes an extensive section of detailed illustrations. Using his characteristic 'bone to bone' method and an emphasis on taxonomy, Owen draws some significant conclusions; he shows that some of Cuvier's classifications were wrongly extended to marine turtles, and adds to the evidence for an Eocene period much warmer than the present. The work is a fascinating example of pre-Darwinian palaeontology by two scientists later much involved in the evolutionary controversy.

Richard Owen (1804-92), the palaeontologist and anatomist, published this analysis of the comparative anatomy of the fossils of British birds and mammals in 1846. It compares living species with extinct ones, and explains the characteristics that help identification, using 237 illustrations to show the traits of different species.

Richard Owen (1804-1892) was a contemporary of Darwin, and like him, attended the University of Edinburgh medical school but left without completing his training. His career as an outstanding palaeontologist began when he was cataloguing the Hunterian Collection of human and animal anatomical specimens which had passed to the Royal College of Surgeons in London. His public lectures on anatomy were attended by Darwin, and he was entrusted with the classification and description of the fossil vertebrates sent back by Darwin from the Beagle voyage. He was responsible for coining many of the terms now used in anatomy and evolutionary biology, including the word 'dinosaur'. Palaeontology (published in 1860) defines, describes and classifies all the fossil animal forms then known, and discusses the origin of species, commenting on the theories of Buffon, Lamarck, the then anonymous author of Vestiges of Creation, Wallace and Darwin.

English anatomist and biologist Richard Owen (1804-92), who in 1842 coined the word 'dinosaur', published this book in 1859, the year of On the Origin of Species. He reviews ancient and recent studies of mammals in Western science before going on to present his own updated categorisation of the class. Owen's eye for detail and range of scholarship are evident in this work, which is an extensive catalogue of mammals based on biological, geographical and anatomical characteristics. It incorporates, among other things, detailed classifications and sub-classifications of genus based on dental structures, food habits and cerebra. Owen's prose is lucid and precise and his investigations scrupulous, demonstrating the commitment that led him to become one of the foremost anatomists of his time. An appendix reveals Owen's views on the hotly debated theories of transmutation and extinction proposed by scientists such as Lamarck, Lyell and Darwin.