Sir John Arthur Thomson (8 July 1861 – 12 February 1933) was a Scottish naturalist who authored several notable books and was an expert on

soft coral Alcyonacea, or soft corals, are an order of corals. In addition to the fleshy soft corals, the order Alcyonacea now contains all species previously known as "gorgonian corals", that produce a more or less hard skeleton, though quite different f ...

Life

He was born at Pilmuir east of East Saltoun,

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

, the second son of Isabella Landsborough (1828-1905) and the Rev Arthur Thomson (1823-1881), a minister in the Free Church of Scotland, originally from

Muckhart Muckhart ( gd, Muc-Àird) commonly refers to two small villages in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, Pool of Muckhart ( gd, Poll Mhuc-Àird) and Yetts o' Muckhart. Muckhart is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated on the A91 around northeast of ...

. He studied natural history at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

graduating with an MA in 1880. He had already established a reputation as a worthy scientist within his first years and in 1887, aged 25, he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

. His proposers were

Patrick Geddes Sir Patrick Geddes (2 October 1854 – 17 April 1932) was a British biologist, sociologist, Comtean positivist, geographer, philanthropist and pioneering town planner. He is known for his innovative thinking in the fields of urban planning ...

, J. T. Cunningham, Sir John Murray and

Robert McNair Ferguson Robert McNair Ferguson (1829–1912) was a Scottish mathematician and a founder of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society. Life and work He was born on 8 July 1829, the son of John Ferguson, a pawnbroker, and his wife, Elisabeth Cochran. He ...

. He taught at the

Royal (Dick) Veterinary College The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, commonly referred to as the Dick Vet, is the veterinary school of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and part of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine the head of which is Moira Why ...

from 1893 until 1899 then

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

from 1899 until 1930 as

Regius Professor of Natural History (Aberdeen) The Regius Professor of Natural History is a Regius Professorship at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. It was originally called the Regius Professor of Civil and Natural History at Marischal College until in 1860 Marischal College Mari ...

, the year he was knighted. His popular works sought to reconcile science and religion. Thomson's ''Outline of Science'', published in 1922, sold more than one hundred thousand copies in five years.Rhees, David J (1979)
THE NEW PUBLIC INTEREST IN SCIENCE (CHAPTER I - PART III)
via Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved December 22, 2006. He lived at 15 Chanonry in Aberdeen. John Arthur Thomson grave

In his

Gifford lectures The Gifford Lectures () are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford. Their purpose is to "promote and diffuse the study of natural theology in the widest sense of the term – in o ...

and a number of books written with his friend

he argued for a form of

holistic Holism () is the idea that various systems (e.g. physical, biological, social) should be viewed as wholes, not merely as a collection of parts. The term "holism" was coined by Jan Smuts in his 1926 book ''Holism and Evolution''."holism, n." OED Onl ...

biology in which the activity of the living

organism In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and ...

could transcend the physical laws governing its component parts. Some had termed the work of Geddes and Thomson as neovitalist though the position presented in their books is more closer to

panpsychism In the philosophy of mind, panpsychism () is the view that the mind or a mindlike aspect is a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of reality. It is also described as a theory that "the mind is a fundamental feature of the world which exists thro ...

as Thomson had claimed that mind can not emerge from matter and that it has existed in nature all the time. Thomson had believed there was life at all levels, he wrote that "there is nothing inanimate". He had however found the

vitalist Vitalism is a belief that starts from the premise that "living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities because they contain some non-physical element or are governed by different principles than are inanimate things." Wher ...

ideas of

Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopherHenri Bergson. 2014. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 13 August 2014, from https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61856/Henri-Bergson

inspirational. According to

Peter J. Bowler Peter J. Bowler (born 8 October 1944) is a historian of biology who has written extensively on the history of evolutionary thought, the history of the environmental sciences, and on the history of genetics. His 1984 book, ''Evolution: The His ...

, Thomson was a popular science writer who had promoted a nonmaterialist interpretation of science though his interpretation was not accepted by all within the scientific community as some had claimed his views were neovitalist and thus outdated. Thomson had also promoted the importance of

symbiosis Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...

and

cooperation Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English) is the process of groups of organisms working or acting together for common, mutual, or some underlying benefit, as opposed to working in competition for selfish benefit. Many animal a ...

in nature as opposed to the idea of struggle. While at the University of Aberdeen Thomson supervised the research of respected

carcinologist A carcinologist is a scientist who studies crustaceans or is otherwise involved in carcinology Carcinology is a branch of zoology that consists of the study of crustaceans, a group of arthropods that includes lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill, ...

Isabella Gordon Isabella Gordon OBE FZS FLS (18 May 1901 – 11 May 1988) was a Scottish marine biologist who specialised in carcinology and was an expert in crabs and sea spiders. She worked at the Natural History Museum and received an OBE in 1961. Ea ...

. He was knighted in 1930 by King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

. He died at home, St Mary's Lodge in

Limpsfield Limpsfield is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs close to Oxted railway station and the A25.

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

Family

In 1889 he married Margaret Robertson Stewart and they were parents to the

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

Arthur Landsborough Thomson Sir Arthur Landsborough Thomson FRSE PZS CB LLD (8 October 1890 – 9 June 1977) was a Scottish medical researcher, mainly remembered as an amateur ornithologist and ornithological author and acknowledged expert on bird migration. Life He wa ...

, who wrote a short biography about his father in ''School Nature Study,'' april 1944. His younger brother was the zoologist

James Stuart Thomson James Stuart Thomson FRSE FLS (1868–1932) was a 19th/20th century Scottish zoologist. He was an expert on the tortoise. Life He was born on 21 July 1868 at Pilmuir near East Saltoun in East Lothian, the youngest son and seventh child of ...

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

Selected publications

*''Parasitism: Organic and Social'' (1895) *''Progress of Science in the Century'' (1903) *''Heredity'' (1908)
''Darwinism and Human Life''
(1909) *''Evolution'' (1912 - with

) *''Problems of Sex'' (1912) *''Zoological Studies'' (1911-1915) *''The Outline of Science '' ditor(4 vol., 1922; repr. 1937) *''What Is Man?'' (1923) *''Science and Religion'' (1925) *''The Minds Of Animals: An Introduction To The Study Of Animal Behaviour'' (1927) *''Modern Science'' (1929) *''Life: Outlines of General Biology'' (1931) *''Riddles of Science'' (1932) *''Biology for Everyman'' (1933 - published posthumously)

References

External links

* * *
Portrait of Sir John Arthur Thomson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Arthur 1861 births 1933 deaths Academics of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of Edinburgh Animal cognition writers Knights Bachelor Panpsychism Scottish nature writers Scottish naturalists Vitalists