Arthur Tansley
| Sir Arthur Tansley | |
|---|---|
| Born |
15 August 1871 London |
| Died | 25 November 1955 (aged 84) Grantchester |
| Notable students | Alexander Watt |
| Known for | New Phytologist, British Ecological Society, Ecosystem concept |
| Influences | Eugenius Warming |
| Notable awards |
Linnean Medal (1941) Fellow of the Royal Society |
| Spouse | Edith Chick |
Sir Arthur George Tansley FLS, FRS (15 August 1871 – 25 November 1955) was an English botanist and a pioneer in the science of ecology. Educated at Highgate School, University College London and Trinity College, Cambridge, Tansley taught at these universities and at Oxford, where he served as Sherardian Professor of Botany until his retirement in 1937. He found the New Phytologist in 1902 and served as its editor until 1931. Tansley was a pioneer of the science of ecology in Britain, being heavily influenced by the work of Danish botanist Eugenius Warming, and introduced the concept of the ecosystem into biology. Tansley was a founding member of the first professional society of ecologists, the Central Committee for the Survey and Study of British Vegetation, which later organised the British Ecological Society, and served as its first president and founding editor of the Journal of Ecology. Tansley also served as the first chairman of the British Nature Conservancy. Tansley was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1915, and knighted in 1950. The New Phytologist publishes regular Tansley Reviews, while the New Phytologist Trust awards a Tansley Medal, both named in his honour.
Tansley was born in London to businessman George Tansley and his wife Amelia. Although a successful businessman, George Tansley's passion had been education after he started attending classes at the Working Men's College when he was 19. George Tansley later went on to be a volunteer teacher, retiring from his business in 1884 to dedicate himself to teaching at the college. He married Amelia Lawrence in 1863 and had two children – the older a daughter, Maud, followed by Arthur seven years later, in 1871.
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