George Romanes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
George John Romanes FRS (20 May 1848 – 23 May 1894) was a Canadian-Scots[1] evolutionary biologist and physiologist who laid the foundation of what he called comparative psychology, postulating a similarity of cognitive processes and mechanisms between humans and other animals.
George Romanes | |
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 Photograph by Elliott & Fry | |
| Born | (1848-05-20)20 May 1848 Kingston, Canada West (now Ontario), Canada |
| Died | 23 May 1894(1894-05-23) (aged 46) Oxford, Oxfordshire, England |
| Citizenship | British |
| Alma mater | Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge |
| Known for | Comparative psychology |
| Spouse | Ethel Romanes |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Evolutionary biology Physiology |
| Influences | Charles Darwin |
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He was the youngest of Charles Darwin's academic friends, and his views on evolution are historically important. He is considered to invent the term neo-Darwinism, which in the late 19th century was considered as a theory of evolution that focuses on natural selection as the main evolutionary force.[2] However, Samuel Butler used this term with a similar meaning in 1880.[3] Romanes' early death was a loss to the cause of evolutionary biology in Britain. Within six years Mendel's work was rediscovered, and a whole new agenda opened up for debate.