Adrian John Desmond (born 1947) is an English writer on the

history of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal. Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Meso ...

and author of books about

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

Life

He studied physiology at

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

and went on to study history of science and vertebrate palaeontology at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

before researching the history of vertebrate palaeontology at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. He was awarded a PhD in the area of the Victorian-period context of Darwinian evolution. Desmond is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Biology Department at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

Books

*''The Hot-blooded Dinosaurs: a revolution in palaeontology'' (1975) *''The Ape's Reflexion'' (1979) *''Archetypes and Ancestors'' (1982) *''The Politics of Evolution: Morphology, medicine and reform in radical London'' (1989). This work won the Pfizer Award. *''

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

'' (1991) with James Moore. This work won the James Tait Black Prize, the Comisso Prize for biography in Italy, the Watson Davis Prize of the US History of Science Society and the Dingle Prize of the British Society for the History of Science. *''Huxley: From Devil's Disciple to Evolution's High Priest'' (1999) *''Charles Darwin (Very Interesting People)'' with

Janet Browne Elizabeth Janet Browne (née Bell, born 30 March 1950) is a British historian of science, known especially for her work on the history of 19th-century biology. She taught at the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine, University Co ...

& James Moore (2007) *''Darwin's Sacred Cause: Race, Slavery, and the Quest for Human Origins'' with James Moore (2009)

Notes

1947 births Living people James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients Alumni of University College London Academics of University College London Charles Darwin biographers Historians of biology {{England-scientist-stub