The Right Honourable Thomas Henry Huxley PRS FLS |
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Woodburytype print of Huxley (1880 or earlier)
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Born |
Ealing, Middlesex, England |
4 May 1825
Died | 29 June 1895 Eastbourne, Sussex, England |
(aged 70)
Residence | London |
Citizenship | United Kingdom |
Nationality | English |
Fields | Zoology; Comparative anatomy |
Institutions | Royal Navy, Royal College of Surgeons, Royal School of Mines, Royal Institution University of London |
Alma mater | Sydenham College London Charing Cross Hospital |
Academic advisors | Thomas Wharton Jones |
Notable students |
Michael Foster H. G. Wells |
Known for | Evolution, science education, agnosticism, Man's Place in Nature |
Influences |
Edward Forbes Charles Darwin |
Influenced |
Patrick Geddes Henry Fairfield Osborn H. G. Wells E. Ray Lankester William Henry Flower Aldous Huxley Julian Huxley |
Notable awards |
Royal Medal (1852) Wollaston Medal (1876) Clarke Medal (1880) Copley Medal (1888) Linnean Medal (1890) |
Thomas Henry Huxley PC PRS FLS (/ˈhʌksli/; 4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist (comparative anatomist), known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
Huxley's famous debate in 1860 with Samuel Wilberforce was a key moment in the wider acceptance of evolution and in his own career. Huxley had been planning to leave Oxford on the previous day, but, after an encounter with Robert Chambers, the author of Vestiges, he changed his mind and decided to join the debate. Wilberforce was coached by Richard Owen, against whom Huxley also debated about whether humans were closely related to apes.
Huxley was slow to accept some of Darwin's ideas, such as gradualism, and was undecided about natural selection, but despite this he was wholehearted in his public support of Darwin. Instrumental in developing scientific education in Britain, he fought against the more extreme versions of religious tradition.