William Dickson Lang
Encyclopedia
William Dickson Lang was Keeper of the Department of Geology at the British Museum
from 1928 until 1938.
He was born at Kurnal, India the second son of Edward Tickle Lang and Hebe, the daughter of John Venn Prior and moved to England at the age of one when the family returned. His father was a civil servant, who had been working on the Jumna Canal in the Punjab.
He was educated at Christ's Hospital School, then went to Harrow School
in 1894 and Pembroke College, Cambridge
in 1898 to read zoology. He matriculated BA in 1902 and MA in 1905.
In 1902 he started as an assistant in the Geology Department of the British Museum in charge of Protozoa, Coelenterates, Sponges and Polyzoa (=Bryozoa). During WWI he was made curator of mosquitos and produced in 1920 "A Handbook on British mosquitos". After the war he returned to the Geology Department and in 1928 became Keeper of Geology.
He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in May 1929. His candidacy citation read: "Distinguished for his knowledge of palaeontology; has applied evolutionary principles to the systematic arrangement of fossil polyzoa and corals, studying the recapitulation of ancestral characters in the post-embryonic growth-stages of compound as well as simple organisms, e.g., 'Brit Mus Catalogue Fossil Bryozoa' (1921, 1922), 'The Pelmatoporinae' (Phil Trans, 1919). Lang elucidated in detail the faunal and stratigraphical succession of the Lias along the Dorset coast, with special relation to ammonites. He was a proponent of the theory of orthogenesis, believing that several lineages of cribrimorph cheilostome bryozoans evolved progressively thicker and more elaborate skeletal structures which eventually became maladaptive, driving the lineage to extinction. By extending the study of existing British species of mosquitoes to their four larval stages, previously ill-known, he tested the relationships already inferred from imaginal characters.
He retired in 1938 and wrote several articles about Mary Anning
, the fossil collector. He had married in 1908 Georgiana Catherine Dixon; they had a son and a daughter.
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
from 1928 until 1938.
He was born at Kurnal, India the second son of Edward Tickle Lang and Hebe, the daughter of John Venn Prior and moved to England at the age of one when the family returned. His father was a civil servant, who had been working on the Jumna Canal in the Punjab.
He was educated at Christ's Hospital School, then went to Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
in 1894 and Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...
in 1898 to read zoology. He matriculated BA in 1902 and MA in 1905.
In 1902 he started as an assistant in the Geology Department of the British Museum in charge of Protozoa, Coelenterates, Sponges and Polyzoa (=Bryozoa). During WWI he was made curator of mosquitos and produced in 1920 "A Handbook on British mosquitos". After the war he returned to the Geology Department and in 1928 became Keeper of Geology.
He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in May 1929. His candidacy citation read: "Distinguished for his knowledge of palaeontology; has applied evolutionary principles to the systematic arrangement of fossil polyzoa and corals, studying the recapitulation of ancestral characters in the post-embryonic growth-stages of compound as well as simple organisms, e.g., 'Brit Mus Catalogue Fossil Bryozoa' (1921, 1922), 'The Pelmatoporinae' (Phil Trans, 1919). Lang elucidated in detail the faunal and stratigraphical succession of the Lias along the Dorset coast, with special relation to ammonites. He was a proponent of the theory of orthogenesis, believing that several lineages of cribrimorph cheilostome bryozoans evolved progressively thicker and more elaborate skeletal structures which eventually became maladaptive, driving the lineage to extinction. By extending the study of existing British species of mosquitoes to their four larval stages, previously ill-known, he tested the relationships already inferred from imaginal characters.
He retired in 1938 and wrote several articles about Mary Anning
Mary Anning
Mary Anning was a British fossil collector, dealer and palaeontologist who became known around the world for a number of important finds she made in the Jurassic age marine fossil beds at Lyme Regis where she lived...
, the fossil collector. He had married in 1908 Georgiana Catherine Dixon; they had a son and a daughter.