Darwin Medal
Encyclopedia
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
every alternate year for "work of acknowledged distinction in the broad area of biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
in which Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
worked, notably in evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
, population biology
Population biology
Population biology is a study of populations of organisms, especially the regulation of population size, life history traits such as clutch size, and extinction...
, organismal biology and biological diversity". First awarded in 1890, it was created in memory of Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
and is presented with a £1000 prize. As with most of the Royal Society's medals, nominees must come from the Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
, with the requirement that they be either a citizen of a nation within the Commonwealth or have lived in such a nation for at least three years before the nomination. Since its creation the medal has been awarded to 64 individuals, including Francis Darwin
Francis Darwin
Sir Francis "Frank" Darwin, FRS , a son of the British naturalist and scientist Charles Darwin, followed his father into botany.-Biography:Francis Darwin was born in Down House, Downe, Kent in 1848...
, Charles Darwin's son, and two married couples, Jack
Jack Heslop-Harrison
John "Jack" Heslop-Harrison FRS FAAAS was a British soldier and botanist.-Early life and education:He was born in Middlesbrough to John William Heslop-Harrison and his wife Christian Henderson, the last of three children...
and Yolande Heslop-Harrison in 1982 and Peter and Rosemary Grant
Peter and Rosemary Grant
Peter Raymond Grant and Barbara Rosemary Grant, a married couple, are both British evolutionary biologists at Princeton University; each holds the position of Emeritus Professor. They are noted for their work concerning Darwin's finches on the Galápagos Island named Daphne Major...
in 2002. The medal was first awarded to Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist...
, a noted biologist and naturalist who had independently developed the Theory of Evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
by Natural Selection.
List of recipients
| Year | Name | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| 1890 | 'For his independent origination of the theory of the origin of species by natural selection.' | |
| 1892 | 'On account of his important contributions to the progress of systematic botany, as evidenced by the "Genera Plantarum" and the "Flora Indica"; but more especially on account of his intimate association with Mr. Darwin in the studies preliminary to the "Origin of Species".' | |
| 1894 | 'For his researches in comparative anatomy, and especially for his intimate association with Mr. Darwin in relation to the "Origin of Species".' | |
| 1896 | 'For his researches on the life history and societies of the Termitidae, and on the developmental relationship between Leptocephalus and the common eel and other muraenidae.' | |
| 1898 | 'For his work on the quantitative treatment of biological problems.' | |
| 1900 | 'For his long-continued and [sic] highly important work in zoology all of which has been inspired by the spirit of Darwinism.' | |
| 1902 | 'For his numerous contributions to the exact study of heredity & variation contained in "Hereditary Genius", "Natural Inheritance", and other writings.' | |
| 1904 | 'For his important contribution to the theory of organic evolution by his researches on variation and heredity.' | |
| 1906 | 'On the ground of the significance and extent of his experimental investigations in heredity & Variation.' | |
| 1908 | 'On the ground of his eminent services in support of the doctrine of evolution by means of natural selection.' | |
| 1910 | 'On the ground of his South African bionomic researches, in large part undertaken as the outcome of correspondence with Charles Darwin.' | |
| 1912 | 'On the ground of his work in conjunction with Charles Darwin, and his researches in vegetable physiology.' | |
| 1914 | 'On the ground of his researches in heredity.' | |
| 1916 | 'On the ground of researches in zoology and biology.' | |
| 1918 | 'For his valuable researches on vertebrate morphology and palaeontology.' | |
| 1920 | 'On the ground of his work on scientific principles applied to the breeding of plants.' | |
| 1922 | 'For his researches in the science of genetics.' | |
| 1924 | 'For his valuable work in zoology and more especially his researches on heredity and cytology.' | |
| 1926 | 'For his contributions to palaeophytology, particularly in relation to the period of coal.' | |
| 1928 | 'For the eminence of his contributions to ecological botany.' | |
| 1930 | 'For his work on extended oceanographical expeditions; and for his genetic studies in animals and plants.' | |
| 1932 | 'As one of the three independent discoverers of Mendels publications; and for his distinguished researches in genetics.' | |
| 1934 | 'In recognition of his work as a palaeobotanist.' | |
| 1936 | 'In recognition of his long continued work for the advancement of marine biology, not only by his own researches but by the great influence he has exerted on very numerous investigations at Plymouth.' | |
| 1938 | 'In recognition of his work of acknowledged distinction in the field in which Darwin himself laboured.' | |
| 1940 | 'For his contributions to the solution of problems bearing on the inter-relationships of the main groups of the Mammalia and on the phylogenetic history of the primates, a subject with which Charles Darwin himself was much concerned.' | |
| 1942 | 'In recognition of his researches on primitive fishes and amphibians which have much advanced the knowledge of the evolution of these groups of animals.' | |
| 1944 | 'In recognition of his work on coral reefs and on the organisms associated with such habitats.' | |
| 1946 | 'In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the development of biology.' | |
| 1948 | 'In recognition of his distinguished contributions to the theory of natural selection, the concept of its gene complex and the evolution of dominance.' | |
| 1950 | 'For his distinguished contributions to the study of algology.' | |
| 1952 | 'In recognition of his initiation of the modern phase of the study of the evolution of living populations.' | |
| 1954 | 'In recognition of his distinguished contributions to the genetical theory of evolution by natural selection, particularly in natural populations.' | |
| 1956 | 'In recognition of his distinguished contributions to the study and theory of evolution.' | |
| 1958 | 'In recognition of his distinguished contributions to evolutionary biology.' | |
| 1960 | 'In recognition of his distinguished and strikingly original botanical work in tropical forests.' | |
| 1962 | 'In recognition of his distinguished contributions to general evolutionary theory, based on a profound study of palaeontology, particularly of vertebrates.' | |
| 1964 | 'In recognition of his distinguished contributions to knowledge of cytology and genetics.' | |
| 1966 | 'In recognition of his distinguished and extensive contributions in the field of invertebrate zoology and to our understanding of general biological phenomena.' | |
| 1968 | 'In recognition of his many distinguished contributions to evolutionary biology, particularly of the mollusca.' | |
| 1970 | 'In recognition of the basic concepts he has contributed to the study of animal ecology which, with his foundation of the Bureau of Animal Population, have had international impact.' | |
| 1972 | 'In recognition of his distinguished and numerous contributions to ornithology and to our understanding of evolutionary mechanisms.' | |
| 1974 | 'In recognition of his outstanding work on natural populations of butterflies, describing and explaining the operation of natural selection and demonstrating the genetic basis upon which selection operates.' | |
| 1976 | 'In recognition of her discovery of and continuing work on chemical mutagenesis.' | |
| 1978 | 'In recognition of his discovery of somatic recombination in fungi which led to the elucidation of an important type of genetic variation.' | |
| 1980 | 'In recognition of his outstanding contributions to genetics and evolutionary theory.' | |
| 1982 | and Yolande Heslop-Harrison | 'In recognition of their major contributions to plant physiology including fundamental studies on insectivorous plants, much of this research carried out jointly.' |
| 1984 | 'In recognition of his distinguished contributions to evolutionary biology. | |
| 1986 | 'In recognition of his outstanding success in combining mathematics with biology to enhance our understanding of evolution, in particular the evolution of sex.' | |
| 1988 | 'In recognition of his distinguished work on evolutionary theory. His contributions include the theory of kin selction [sic] to account for altruistic behaviour and the theoretical demonstration of a link between disease resistance and the evolution of sex.' | |
| 1990 | 'For his research on the population biology and evolution of plants which has greatly improved understanding of the adaptation of plants to their environment.' | |
| 1992 | 'Distinguished for his work on molecular evolution, in particular on the role of stochastic events in determining the rate of evolution.' | |
| 1994 | 'In recognition of his analysis of pattern formation during insect segmentation, and of his contribution to understanding how genetic processes specify spatial information.' | |
| 1996 | 'In recognition of his leadership in the study of genome analysis with the potential to have a profound impact on the whole of biology.' | |
| 1998 | and Graham Moore | 'In recognition of their work on cereal genome organization and evolution which has revolutionized cereal genetics by showing that the genetics of all the different cereals can be considered in a common framework.' |
| 2000 | 'In recognition of his distinguished work on selection in age-structured populations, extending the theory to the evolution of ageing, and testing the theories of mutation accumulation and pleiotropy, developing models for the evolution of genetic systems, including sex and recombination, inbreeding and outbreeding, separate sexes and sex chromosomes, segregation distortion and repetitive DNA.' | |
| 2002 | 'for their fundamental work on the ecology, breeding and evolution of Darwins finches on the Galapagos islands. This work has become the classic example of Darwinian evolution in the wild.' | |
| 2004 | and Rosemary Carpenter | 'for their ground-breaking discoveries about the control of flower development. They have combined molecular and genetic approaches to answer some of Darwins key questions about the natural variation of floral form and the evolution of floral development.' |
| 2006 | 'for his major and extensive contributions to evolutionary biology, characterised by the application of sophisticated mathematical analysis but focussed on developing biological understanding rather than mathematical niceties.' | |
| 2008 | 'for his lifetime contribution to the foundations and development of behavioural ecology, in particular for understanding evolutionary adaptations and their consequences for natural populations.' | |
| 2010 | 'for his original and influential contributions to our understanding of the genetic basis of evolution.' |