Editing Ray Lankester (section)

== Career ==
[[File:Contributionstod00lank 0079 Fig 13 Ovary.jpg|thumb|left|Portion of a ripe ovary of ''Sepia'' (cuttlefish) showing ova of various sizes and some empty capsules c, c. From ''Contributions to the developmental history of the Mollusca.'']]Lankester became a [[Fellow#Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin|Fellow]] of [[Exeter College, Oxford]], in 1873. He co-edited the ''[[Journal of Cell Science|Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science]]'' which his father had founded. From 1869 until his death he edited this journal (jointly with his father, 1869–1871).<ref name="NIE"/> He worked as one of Huxley's team at the new buildings in [[South Kensington]], and after the death of [[Francis Maitland Balfour|Francis Balfour]] became Huxley's intended successor.

Lankester was appointed [[Jodrell Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy]] and curator of what is now the [[Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy|Grant Museum of Zoology]] at University College London from 1874 to 1890, [[Linacre Chair of Zoology|Linacre Professor of Comparative Anatomy]] at [[Merton College, Oxford]], from 1891 to 1898, and director of the Natural History Museum from 1898 to 1907. He was a founder in 1884 of the [[Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom|Marine Biological Association]] and served as its second President between 1890 and 1929. Influential as teacher and writer on biological theories, comparative anatomy, and evolution, Lankester studied the [[protozoa]], [[mollusca]], and [[arthropoda]]. Lankester was elected an International Honorary Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1902, and an International Member of both the United States [[National Academy of Sciences]] and the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1903.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-09 |title=Edwin Ray Lankester |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/edwin-ray-lankester |access-date=2024-01-29 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=E. Ray Lankester |url=https://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20001339.html |access-date=2024-01-29 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Edwin+R.+Lankester&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2024-01-29 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> He was [[British honours system|knighted]] in 1907, awarded the Copley Medal of the Royal Society in 1913, and the [[Linnean Society of London]]'s [[Darwin-Wallace Medal]] in 1908.<ref>[[#Lester|Lester]].</ref>

At University College London, one person who attended his class was [[Raphael Weldon]] (1860–1906).<ref>[http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/zoology/collections/history History of the Grant Museum 1827 – present]. ucl.ac.uk.</ref> Another interesting student was [[Alfred Gibbs Bourne]], who went on to hold senior positions in biology and education in the [[British Raj|Indian Empire]].

[[Image:Ray Lankester.png|thumb|Ray Lankester by [[Leslie Ward]], ''[[Vanity Fair (UK magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' 1905]]
After Huxley the most important influence on his thought was [[August Weismann]], the German zoologist who rejected [[Lamarckism]], and wholeheartedly advocated [[natural selection]] as the key force in evolution at a time when other biologists had doubts. Weismann's separation of [[germplasm]] (genetic material) from soma ([[somatic cells]]) was an idea which took many years before its significance was generally appreciated. Lankester was one of the first to see its importance: his full acceptance of selection came after reading Weismann's essays, some of which he translated into English.

[[Ernst Mayr]] said "It was Lankester who founded a school of selectionism at Oxford".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mayr|first=Ernst|year=1982|title=The growth of biological thought|isbn=978-0674364462|publisher=Harvard University Press|page=535}}</ref> Those he influenced (in addition to Weldon) included [[Edwin Stephen Goodrich]] (Linacre chair in zoology at Oxford 1921–1946) and (indirectly) [[Julian Huxley]] (the evolutionary synthesis). In turn their disciples, such as [[E. B. Ford]] (ecological genetics), [[Gavin de Beer]] (embryology and evolution), [[Charles Sutherland Elton|Charles Elton]] (ecology) and [[Alister Hardy]] (marine biology) held sway during the middle years of the 20th century.

Lankester was a comparative anatomist of the [[Thomas Henry Huxley|Huxley]] school, working mostly on [[invertebrates]]. He was also a voluminous writer on biology for the general readership; in this he followed the example of his old mentor, Huxley.

He published over 200 papers during his career. For an overview of his scientific work, see the obituary notice by [[Edwin Stephen Goodrich|Edwin S. Goodrich]].<ref name=ESG/>

=== Invertebrates and degeneration ===
Lankester's books ''Developmental history of the Mollusca'' (1875) and ''Degeneration: a chapter in Darwinism'' (1880) established him as a leader in the study of invertebrate life histories. In ''Degeneration'' he adapted some ideas of [[Ernst Haeckel]] and [[Anton Dohrn]] (the founder and first director of the [[Stazione Zoologica]], [[Naples]]).<ref>Dohrn, Anton 1875. ''Der Ursprung der Wirbelthiere und das Principe des Functionswechsels''. Engelmann, Leipzig.</ref> Connecting Dohrn's work with [[Darwinism]], Lankester held that degeneration was one of three general avenues that evolution might take (the others being balance and elaboration). Degeneration was a suppression of form, "Any new set of conditions occurring to an animal which render its food and safety very easily attained, seem to lead to as a rule to Degeneration".<ref>[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/23841#page/45/mode/1up Lankester, E. Ray (1880) ''Degeneration: a chapter in Darwinism'', p. 33].</ref> Degeneration was well known in parasites, and Lankester gave several examples. In ''[[Sacculina]]'', a genus of [[barnacles]] which is a parasite of [[crab]]s, the female is little more than "a sac of eggs, and absorbed nourishment from the juices of its host by root-like processes" (+ [[Wood engraving|wood-engraved]] illustration). He called this degenerative evolutionary process in parasites ''retrogressive metamorphosis''.

Lankester pointed out that retrograde metamorphosis could be seen in many species that were not, strictly speaking, degenerate. "Were it not for the recapitulative phases of the [[barnacle]], we may doubt whether naturalists would ''ever'' have guessed it was a [[crustacean]]." The lizard ''[[Tetradactylus|Seps]]'' has limbs which are "ridiculously small", and ''[[Bipes (lizard)|Bipes]]'', a burrowing lizard, has no front limbs, and rear limbs reduced to stumps. The [[Dibamidae]] are legless lizards of tropical forests who also adopt the burrowing habit. [[Snakes#Evolution|Snakes]], which have evolved unique forms of [[Snakes#Locomotion|locomotion]], and are probably derived from lizards. Thus degeneration or retrogressive metamorphosis sometimes occurs as species [[Adaptation|adapt]] to changes in [[Habit (biology)|habit]] or way of life.

As evidence of degeneration, Lankester identifies the recapitulative development of the individual. This is the idea propagated by [[Ernst Haeckel]] as a source of evolutionary evidence ([[recapitulation theory]]). As antecedents of degeneration, Lankester lists:<ref>Lankester, E. Ray (1880) ''Degeneration: a chapter in Darwinism'', p. 52.</ref>
:1. [[Parasitism]]
:2. Fixity or immobility ([[Sessility (zoology)|sessile]] habit)
:3. Vegetative nutrition
:4. Excessive reduction in size
He also considered the [[axolotl]], a [[mole salamander]], which can breed whilst still in its gilled larval form without maturing into a terrestrial adult. Lankester noted that this process could take the subsequent evolution of the race into a totally different and otherwise improbable direction.<ref>[[#Lester|Lester]], p. 87.</ref> This idea, which Lankester called ''super-larvation'', is now called [[neoteny]].

Lankester extended the idea of degeneration to human societies, which carries little significance today, but it is a good example of a biological concept invading social science. Lankester and [[H. G. Wells]] used the idea as a basis for propaganda in favour of social and educational reform.<ref>{{Cite journal
 | pmid = 16769556
| year = 2006
| last1 = Barnett
| first1 = R
| title = Education or degeneration: E. Ray Lankester, H. G. Wells and the outline of history
| journal = Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
| volume = 37
| issue = 2
| pages = 203–29
| doi = 10.1016/j.shpsc.2006.03.002
}}</ref>

=== Trouble at the Museum ===
In Lankester's time the [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] had its own building in [[South Kensington]], but in financial and administrative matters it was subordinate to the [[British Museum]]. Moreover, the Superintendent (= Director) of the NHM was the subordinate of the Principal Librarian of the BM, a fact which was bound to cause trouble since that august person was not a scientist.<ref>[[Albert Günther|Günther, Albert]] (1975) ''A century of zoology at the British Museum through the lives of two Keepers, 1815–1914''. London. {{ISBN|0712906185}}</ref><ref>Günther, Albert (1981) ''The founders of science at the British Museum'', 1753–1900. Halesworth, London. {{ISBN|0950727601}}</ref><ref>[[William T. Stearn|Stearn, William T.]] (1981) ''The Natural History Museum at South Kensington''. London. {{ISBN|9780565090302}}</ref> We can see that the conflict which took place was one aspect of the struggle undertaken, in their different ways, by [[Richard Owen|Owen]], [[Joseph Dalton Hooker|Hooker]], [[Thomas Henry Huxley|Huxley]] and [[John Tyndall|Tyndall]] to emancipate science from enslavement by traditional forces.

There was trouble from the moment Lankester put forward his candidature for the office vacated by Sir [[William Henry Flower|William Flower]], who was on the point of death. The Principal Librarian, Sir [[Edward Maunde Thompson]], the [[palaeographer]], was also the Secretary to the Trustees, and hence in a strong position to get his own way. There is good evidence that Thompson, an efficient and authoritarian figure, intended to take control of the whole Museum, including the Natural History departments.<ref>[[Peter Chalmers Mitchell|Mitchell, P. Chalmers]] (1937) ''My fill of days''. London. pp. 170ff.</ref><ref>Sir [[John Evans (archaeologist)|John Evans]] to Lankester, Lankester family papers; reported in [[#Lester|Lester]], pp. 128–9.</ref> In the absence of Huxley, who had led most of the battles for over thirty years, it was left to the younger generation to struggle for the independence of science, [[Peter Chalmers Mitchell|Mitchell]], [[Edward Bagnall Poulton|Poulton]], and [[Raphael Weldon|Weldon]] were his main supporters, and together they lobbied the Trustees, the Government and in the press to get their point over. Finally Lankester was appointed instead of Lazarus Fletcher (a relative nonentity).<ref>[[#Lester|Lester]], Chapter 11, pp. 127ff.</ref>

Lankester was appointed in 1898, and the outcome was inevitable. Eight years of conflict with Maunde Thompson followed, with Thompson constantly interfering in the affairs of the museum and obstructing Lankester's attempt to improve the museum. Lankester resigned in 1907, at the direction of Thompson, who had discovered a clause in the regulations which allowed him to call for the resignation of officials at the age of 60. [[Lazarus Fletcher]] was appointed in his stead. There was a vast clamour in the press, and from foreign zoologists protesting at the treatment of Lankester. That Lankester had some friends in high places was shown by the Archbishop of Canterbury offering him an enhanced pension, and the knighthood that was bestowed on him the next year.

The issues raised by this affair did not end there. Eventually the NHM gained, first, its administrative freedom, then finally there was a complete separation from the BM. Today the [[British Library]], the British Museum and the Natural History Museum all occupy separate buildings, and have complete legal, administrative and financial independence from each other.

=== Rationalism ===
[[File:Sir Edwin Ray Lankester 1918.jpg|thumb|240px|Sir Edwin Ray Lankester in 1918]]

Lankester had close family connections with [[Suffolk]] (the [[Woodbridge, Suffolk|Woodbridge]] and [[Felixstowe]] area), and was an active member of the [[Rationalist]] group associated with the circle of [[Thomas Huxley]], [[Samuel Laing (science writer)|Samuel Laing]] and others. He was a friend of the Rationalist [[Edward Clodd]] of [[Aldeburgh]]. From 1901 to his death in 1929 he was Honorary President of the [[Ipswich Museum]]. He became convinced of the human workmanship of the (now unfavoured) 'Pre-palaeolithic' implements and rostro-carinates, and championed their cause at the Royal Society in 1910–1912. Through correspondence he became the scientific mentor of the Suffolk prehistorian James Reid Moir (1879–1944). He was a friend of [[Karl Marx]] in the latter's later years and was among the few persons present at his funeral.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The friendship of Edwin Ray Lankester and Karl Marx: the last episode in Marx's intellectual evolution|first=Lewis S.|last=Feuer|author-link=Lewis Samuel Feuer|journal=Journal of the History of Ideas|volume=40|issue=4|year=1979|pages=633–648|doi=10.2307/2709363|jstor=2709363}}</ref>

Lankester was active in attempting to expose the frauds of [[Spiritualism (movement)|Spiritualist]] mediums during the 1920s. He was an important writer of popular science, his weekly newspaper columns over many years being assembled and reprinted in a series of books entitled ''Science from an Easy Chair'' (first series, 1910; second series, 1912).