| Authorised form of name | Horridge; George Adrian; neurobiologist |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Sheffield, Yorkshire, England |
| Date of birth | 12 December 1927 |
| Place of death | Australia |
| Date of death | 30 April 2024 |
| Occupation | neurobiologist |
| Research field | Oceanography |
| Invertebrate zoology |
| Vertebrate zoology |
| Biological models |
| Cellular neuroscience |
| Materials Science |
| Environmental sciences |
| Neurobiology |
| Activity | Education:
University of Cambridge BA (1948); MA (1949); PhD (1952); ScD (1956)
Career:
Assistant at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough (1953 - 1954); Director of the Gatty Marine Laboratory, St Andrew's University (1956 - 1968); Lecturer then Reader in Zoology, St Andrew's University (1956 - 1968); Fellow of the Centre for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, USA (1959 - 1960); Professor of Neurobiology, Australian National University, Canberra (1968 - 1993); Visiting Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford University (1972 - 1973); Visiting Fellow at Churchill College, University of Cambridge (1976 - 1977).
Memberships:
Australian Academy of Science
Awards/Medals:
Centenary Medal for service to Australian society in the biological sciences 2001 |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 20/03/1969 |
| Age at election | 41 |
| Relationships | Parents: George William Horridge (1897-1981) and Olive (1899-1995), daughter of Albert Stray, who owned a chain of sweetshops.
Spouse: Audrey (1930-2013), daughter of Rev. Harcourt Robert Henry Lightburne, vicar of St Mary's, Upchurch, Kent. She was responsible for the Service for Overseas Students- coordinating over 30,000 nationwide- with the Australian Development Agency, and formerly a social planner with the National Capital Development Commission.
Children: Four daughters and one son. |
| PublishedWorks | RCN R83801
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RCN R83448
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| OtherInfo | Distinguished for analysis of coelenterate nervous systems, sliding microtubules in ctenophore cilia, conditioning in headless insects, and pitch discrimination in locusts. He wrote the 1965 book Nervous Systems of Invertebrates with Theodore H. Bullock and works on insect photoreceptor optics and responses, optokinetic memory, and control of crab eye movements.
Investigated exact neural connexions of insect photoreceptors with Ian Meinertzhagen and light guides in insect eyes with Allan Snyder. Adrian also initiated a programme on optic flow in insect vision, pursuing applications in robot and drone vision with Mandyam Srinivasan. Of his 51 PhD students, half became professors. Eight of his group have become Fellows of the Royal Society.
He published What Does the Honeybee See? (2009) and showed that bees detect simple features, not shapes, and distinguish coloured patterns by the arrangement of edges, causing modulation in green and blue receptors combined with monochromatic content of blue. In maritime anthropology, Adrian described the lashed-lug and other traditional construction methods and ceremonies of the sailing and canoe fleets of Indonesia. |
| Source | The Royal Society Fellows Directory, Professor Adrian Horridge FRS, [URL: https://royalsociety.org/people/adrian-horridge-11644/; last accessed: 29/01/2025]
Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Horridge, George Adrian (Adrian) (1927 - 2024), [URL: https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P000505b.htm; last accessed: 29/01/2025]
Australian Academy of Science, Fellows update: May 2024, 31 May 2024, [URL: https://www.science.org.au/academy-newsletter/may-2024-182/fellows-update; last accessed: 29/01/2025] |
| Code | NA5477 |