Lionel John Farnham Brimble (16 January 1904 in Radstock,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

– 15 November 1965 in London) was a botanist, author, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and editor of the journal ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

''.

Early life

He was born in 1904, the son of a blacksmith and innkeeper at Radstock,

, where his early childhood was said to be very happy. He rejected a naval scholarship and instead attended Sexey's School in

Bruton Bruton ( ) is a market town, electoral ward, and civil parish in Somerset, England, on the River Brue and the A359 between Frome and Yeovil. It is 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Shepton Mallet, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, 10 ...

, as a boarder. He won a scholarship to University College of Reading, where he read Botany under Professor W. Stiles. He obtained a BSc degree from

Reading University The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

Career

In 1926 he went to

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

as a science lecturer. He stayed only a year in Glasgow before he was offered a lectureship at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

, where he worked from 1927 to 1930. In Manchester he was also the theatre critic on a local paper. In 1931 he was offered the post of assistant editor of

magazine by its editor Sir Richard Gregory. He was later involved with the organisation of the

British Social Hygiene Council British Social Hygiene Council (BSHC, until 1925 the National Council for Combating Venereal Diseases, NCCVD) was a British organization dedicated to eradicating venereal diseases and educating the public about them. It has been founded in 1914. S ...

which eventually became the Central Council for Health Education. He worked at various times with Sir Julian Huxley,

Winifred Cullis Winifred Cullis (2 June 1875 – 13 November 1956) was a physiologist and academic, and the first woman to hold a professorial chair at a medical school. Early life and education Born in Gloucester, Winifred was the youngest daughter of the ...

, J. B. S. Haldane and Sir Robert Fields. In 1939, on the retirement of Sir Richard, Brimble and his colleague A. J. V. Gale were appointed joint editors of

magazine. The partnership lasted 23 years, during which Nature published seminal papers in palaeoanthropology, nuclear energy, holography, lasers and the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA. During this period Brimble travelled widely abroad, particularly in America and Australia. At the end of 1961, Gale retired from the joint editorship, leaving Brimble as sole editor. He suffered poor health in his fifties and died in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1965. He never married and had no children.

Publications

*''Everyday Botany'' (1934)
1949 edition
*''Flowers in Britain'' (1944) *''Trees In Britain: Wild, Ornamental And Economic, And Some Relatives In Other Lands '' (1946) *''Social Studies and World Citizenship;: A Sociological Approach to Education'' (1947) *''Nature Studies for Schools: With Suggestions for Practical, Field and Museum Work'' (1951) *''Flowers in Britain: Wild, Ornamental and Economic, and Some Relatives in Other Lands'' (1952) *''Intermediate Botany '' (1953) *''Useful Animals of the World'' (1956) *''Physiology, Anatomy and Health'' (1958) *''A School Course Of Biology, With Suggestions For Experimental And Field Work '' (1961)

Achievements

*Fellow,

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

, 1938. *Fellow, Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1953.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brimble, L. J. F. English botanists People from Radstock Alumni of the University of Reading Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1904 births 1965 deaths English male journalists Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester Academics of the University of Glasgow Academic journal editors Fellows of the Linnean Society of London People educated at Sexey's School Nature (journal) editors