Record

Authorised form of nameThompson; Sir; D'Arcy Wentworth (1860 - 1948); naturalist; mathematician
Dates1860 - 1948
NationalityBritish
Place of birth3 Brandon Street, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Date of birth02 May 1860
Place of deathSt Andrews, Fife, Scotland, United Kingdom
Date of death21 June 1948
OccupationNaturalist and mathematician
Research fieldBiology
Natural history
Mathematics
Oceanography
ActivityEducation:
Edinburgh Academy 1870–77; Edinburgh University; MA (Camb) 1883
Career:
Demonstrator in physiology (1883-1884); professor of biology (later altered to natural history) in the recently founded University College in Dundee (1884-1916); went on expeditions to the Bering Straits, representing the British Government in an international inquiry into the fur seal industry to assess the fur seal's declining numbers (1896-1897); appointed to the Chair of Natural History at St Andrews University (1917-1948).
Memberships:
FRSE
Medals/Awards:
Linnean Medal 1938
Honours:
CB
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election11/05/1916
Age at election56
ProposerThomas Clifford Allbutt
William Abbott Herdman
Henry Woodward
Robert Stawell Ball
Adam Sedgwick
Walter Heape
Edwin Ray Lankester
Arthur Everett Shipley
Walsingham
Gilbert Charles Bourne
Sidney Frederic Harmer
RSActivityRoyal Society roles:
VP 1931-1933
Medals and prizes:
Darwin Medal 1946
RelationshipsParents: D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson (1829–1902), and Fanny Gamgee (1838–1860), daughter of Joseph Gamgee, veterinary surgeon.
Spouse: (m. 1901) Ada Maureen (d. 1949), daughter of William B. Drury, solicitor of Dublin.
Children: Three daughters.
PublishedWorksRCN R65928
RCN 21877
RCN 21639
RCN 11046
RCN 21638
OtherInfoPioneer of mathematical and theoretical biology.
His work led the way for the scientific explanation of morphogenesis, the process by which patterns and body structures are formed in plants and animals.
Royal Society Obituary or MemoirClick to view (may be contained within a meeting notice, presidential address or list of death notices)
Related imagesDiscover a selection of related images in our picture library
SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB
Obituaries:
Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1948-1949 vol 6 pp 599-617, plate, by Clifford Dobell
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/95300577
CodeNA6267
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
MDA/A/22/4Letter from D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson to Henry Dale, St Andrews4 October 1932
NLB/13/790Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Professor D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, University College, Dundee26 November 1896
MDA/A/22/5Copy letter from [Ronald Winckworth, Assistant Secretary of Royal Society] to D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson12 October 1932
MC/31/206Letter from D'Arcy [Wentworth] Thompson, University College, Dundee, to The Secretaries, The Royal Society29 May 1916
NLB/53/277Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor D'Arcy Thompson, FRS26 June 1916
NLB/62/537Copy letter from William Bate Hardy, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor D'Arcy [Wentworth] Thompson, FRS2 March 1922
RR/60/7Referee's report by D'arcy Wentworth Thompson, on a paper 'The life history of some marine plankton diatoms' by F Gross21 January 1937
RR/60/8Second referee's report by D'arcy Wentworth Thompson, on a paper 'The life history of some marine plankton diatoms' by F Gross7 February 1937
NLB/63/177Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor D'Arcy [Wentworth] Thompson, FRS10 July 1922
RR/69/64Second referee's report by D'arcy Wentworth Thompson, on a paper 'The role of the body fluid in relation to movement in soft-bodied invertebrates I. The burrowing of Arenicola' by G Chapman and G E Newell3 February 1947
RR/68/395Referee's report by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, on a paper 'The shape of the human being as a function of time' by Peter Brian Medawar28 June 1943
RR/69/63Referee's report by D'arcy Wentworth Thompson, on a paper 'The role of the body fluid in relation to movement in soft-bodied invertebrates I. The burrowing of Arenicola' by G Chapman and G E Newell22 October 1946
NLB/65/723Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Dr [Geoffrey Thomas] Bennett, FRS13 December 1923
RR/W/1/4Postcard from [Cecil Clifford] Dobell to the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society, regarding a paper 'The geometry of the siliceous skeletons of the radiolaria' by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson22 May 1932
NLB/68/71Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor D'Arcy [Wentworth] Thompson, CB, FRS8 May 1925
NLB/65/626Copy letter from William Bate Hardy, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor D'Arcy [Wentworth] Thompson, FRS30 November 1923
NLB/67/514Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor D'Arcy [Wentworth] Thompson, FRS12 January 1925
NLB/67/666Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor D'Arcy [Wentworth] Thompson, FRS11 February 1925
NLB/68/121Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor D'Arcy [Wentworth] Thompson, CB, FRS15 May 1925
NLB/67/42Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor [Godfrey Harold] Hardy, FRS8 October 1924
NLB/68/299Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor D'Arcy [Wentworth] Thompson, FRS15 June 1925
NLB/68/468Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to M. le Secretaire Perpetuel; Academie des Sciences, Leningrad14 July 1925
NLB/68/520Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Henry Miers, FRS27 July 1925
NLB/68/725Copy letter from William Bate Hardy, Secretary of the Royal Society; to Professor D'Arcy [Wentworth] Thompson, FRS22 October 1925
RR/W/1/5Postcard from [Ronald Aylmer] Fisher to the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society, regarding a paper 'The geometry of the siliceous skeletons of the radiolaria' by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson21 May 1932
EC/1916/20Thompson, Sir D'Arcy Wentworth: certificate of election to the Royal Society
MDA/C/1/2Correspondence relating to the Arundel Library Fund1925
RR/29/33Referee's report by Godfrey Harold Hardy, on a paper 'On the thirteen semi-regular solids of Archimedes, and on their development by the transformation of certain plane configurations' by D'arcy Wentworth ThompsonOctober 1924
RR/29/32Referee's report by Geoffrey Thomas Bennett, on a paper 'On the thirteen semi-regular solids of Archimedes, and on their development by the transformation of certain plane configurations' by D'arcy Wentworth Thompson19 April 1924
MC/15/3Letter from Professor D'Arcy [Wentworth] Thompson, University College, Dundee, to Dr Michael Foster16 January 1889
RR/47/126Referee's report by Cecil Clifford Dobell, on a paper 'The geometry of the siliceous skeletons of the radiolaria' by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson25 February 1932
RR/47/127Referee's report by William Henry Bragg, on a paper 'The geometry of the siliceous skeletons of the radiolaria' by D'Arcy Wentworth ThompsonMay 1932
RR/47/125Referee's report by Charles Herbert Lees, on a paper 'The geometry of the siliceous skeletons of the radiolaria' by D'Arcy Wentworth ThompsonMarch 1932
RR/W/1/9Letter from [David] Keilin to the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society, regarding a paper 'The geometry of the siliceous skeletons of the radiolaria' by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson28 May 1932
RR/W/1/8Letter from [William Thomas] Calman to [Henry Hallett] Dale, regarding a paper 'The geometry of the siliceous skeletons of the radiolaria' by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson23 May 1932
MC/15Volume 15 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1889-1892
MC/30/84Letter from [Sidney Frederic] Harmer, 1A Thornton Hill, Wimbledon, S.W, to Mr [Robert] Harrison, The Assistant Secretary, Royal Society, Burlington House, W23 November 1915
MC/30/88Letter from [William Abbott] Herdman, The University of Liverpool, to [Arthur] Schuster, [Royal Society]11 December 1915
MC/31/207Letter from D'Arcy [Wentworth] Thompson, University College, Dundee, to The Secretaries, The Royal Society28 June 1916
RR/W/1/7Postcard from Sir Guy Marshall to the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society, regarding a paper 'The geometry of the siliceous skeletons of the radiolaria' by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson23 May 1932
RR/W/1/3Postcard from [John] Graham Kerr to the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society, regarding a paper 'The geometry of the siliceous skeletons of the radiolaria' by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson21 May 1932
RR/W/1/6Postcard from [James] Gray to the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society, regarding a paper 'The geometry of the siliceous skeletons of the radiolaria' by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson22 May 1932
RR/W/1/13Letter from [William Thomas] Calman to [Ronald] Winckworth, regarding a paper 'The geometry of the siliceous skeletons of the radiolaria' by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson7 June 1932
RR/W/1/14Postcard from [Henry] Balfour to the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society, regarding a paper 'The geometry of the siliceous skeletons of the radiolaria' by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson16 June 1932
RR/W/1/10Letter from [James] Gray to [William Thomas] Calman, Chairman of the Zoology Committee, regarding a paper 'The geometry of the siliceous skeletons of the radiolaria' by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson1 June 1932
RR/W/1/12Summary of referees' comments on a paper 'The geometry of the siliceous skeletons of the radiolaria' by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson[June 1932]
RR/W/1/11Comments [by Geoffrey Thomas Bennett] on a paper 'The geometry of the siliceous skeletons of the radiolaria' by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson[May 1932]
ACS/1/2/3/681Letter from [Alan Archibald Campbell] Swinton, to [Professor] D'Arcy [Wentworth] Thompson, C. B., F. R. S., 44 South Street, St. Andrews24 November 1928
ACS/1/2/3/705Letter from [Alan Archibald Campbell] Swinton, to Randall [Davidson]4 December 1928
ACS/1/2/3/706Letter from [Alan Archibald Campbell] Swinton, to [Professor] D'Arcy [Wentworth] Thompson, C. B., F. R. S.4 December 1928
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