| RefNo | EC/1979/24 |
| Previous numbers | Cert XX, 157 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | May, Robert McCredie, Baron May of Oxford: certificate of election to the Royal Society |
| Date | 1977 |
| Description | Citation typed |
| Citation | Distinguished for his major contribution to the development of theoretical ecology; his work has brought many new insights to the interpretation of phenomena observed in the field. Developing the mathematics (bifurcations and chaos in first order difference equations) along with the biology, he has shown how the range of dynamic behaviour observed in natural populations, and the source of much early controversy, can be explained by a non-linear model.. The type of population behaviour (stable, regular cycles or chaotic fluctuations) depends entirely on the relative sizes of various parameters.With various collaborators, he has determined the appropriate values from field or experimental data for various organisms and confirmed the existence of the expected range of parameters. Likewise in community ecology he has greatly clarified the understanding of the relations between stability and complexity, of patterns of relative abundance and the limits to similarity among competing species: in the volume emerging from the First International Congress of Ecology (1974) his work was the most cited. Prior to turning to ecology May made useful contributions to several branches of theoretical physics. |
| AccessStatus | Closed |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA3413 | May; Robert McCredie (1936 - 2020); Baron May of Oxford | 1936 - 2020 |