Alister Hardy
| Sir Alister C. Hardy | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
10 February 1896 Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
| Died | 22 May 1985 (aged 89) Oxford, Oxfordshire, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Fields | Marine zoology |
| Known for |
RRS Discovery work Continuous Plankton Recorder Aquatic ape hypothesis |
| Notable awards | Fellow of the Royal Society |
Sir Alister Clavering Hardy, FRSFRSE FLS LLD (10 February 1896 – 22 May 1985) was an English marine biologist, an expert on marine ecosystems spanning organisms from zooplankton to whales.
Hardy served as zoologist on the RRS Discovery's voyage to explore the Antarctic between 1925 and 1927. On the voyage he invented the Continuous Plankton Recorder; it enabled any ship to collect plankton samples during an ordinary voyage.
After retiring from his academic work, Hardy founded the Religious Experience Research Centre in 1969.
Hardy was born in Nottingham, the son of Richard Hardy, an architect, and his wife, Elizabeth Hannah Clavering. He was educated not far away at Oundle School. He had intended to go to Oxford University in 1914, but on the outbreak of war he instead volunteered for the army, and was made a camoufleur, a camouflage officer. Hardy wrote that he had been
equally drawn to science and art, and if the truth be known, I must confess that it is the latter that has the greater appeal. I am lucky in not having been torn between the two; I have managed to combine them.
He was selected for camouflage work by the artist Solomon J. Solomon, who apparently mistook him for a different Hardy who was a professional artist. Hardy however did have sufficient artistic skill to serve his military and scientific work. He illustrated his New Naturalist books with his own line drawings, maps, diagrams, photographs, and paintings. For example, plate 2 of Fish and Fisheries illustrates the depicted "Rare and Unusual Fish in British Waters" both accurately and vividly. Hardy described the camoufleurs as including artists and "scientists with artistic inclinations", himself perhaps among them.
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