G. Archdall Reid
Encyclopedia
Sir George Archdall O'Brien Reid KBE FRSE (7 April 1860, Roorky, India
- 19 November 1929) was a Scottish physician, and a writer on public health
and on the subject of evolution
. A socialist, he was interested in the effects of alcohol on society, and in the evolution of races.http://library-2.lse.ac.uk/archives/handlists/CollMisc0626/CollMisc0626.html
He was born in the NW Provinces of British India, the only son of Captain C A Reid of the 20th Bengal Native Infantry.
His writings on evolution and heredity are of interest as examples of thinking in this field at a time when the new science of genetics
was in turmoil, following the rediscovery of the work of Gregor Mendel
which appeared to conflict with Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. This was the start of a period in which the Modern evolutionary synthesis
came into being.
Alfred Russel Wallace
, co-founder of the theory of evolution by natural selection, with Darwin, wrote of Reid:
It is refreshing to turn to Mr. Archdall Reid's volume which, though unnecessarily diffuse, is full of original ideas and acute reasoning. The larger part of it is devoted to a discussion of the general subject of organic evolution. This is exceedingly well done, and it contains a very forcible argument against the possibility of the inheritance of acquired characters in the higher animals, derived from the facts of cell-division and specialisation in the development of the individual. This argument has not, within my knowledge, been so clearly and forcibly set forth by any other writer. There are also some very acute criticisms of the writings of Herbert Spencer and others on evolution, and great stress is laid on a rather neglected subject, the development of acquired characters during the growth of the individual, though on this point the author's views seem rather exaggerated and open to criticism.http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/wallace/S524.htm
and:
I was greatly pleased with Archdall Reid's view of Mendelism
in _Nature_.[35] He is a very clear and original thinker.http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/james-marchant/alfred-russel-wallace-letters--reminiscences-v-2-899/page-4-alfred-russel-wallace-letters--reminiscences-v-2-899.shtml
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
- 19 November 1929) was a Scottish physician, and a writer on public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
and on the subject of evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
. A socialist, he was interested in the effects of alcohol on society, and in the evolution of races.http://library-2.lse.ac.uk/archives/handlists/CollMisc0626/CollMisc0626.html
He was born in the NW Provinces of British India, the only son of Captain C A Reid of the 20th Bengal Native Infantry.
His writings on evolution and heredity are of interest as examples of thinking in this field at a time when the new science of genetics
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
was in turmoil, following the rediscovery of the work of Gregor Mendel
Gregor Mendel
Gregor Johann Mendel was an Austrian scientist and Augustinian friar who gained posthumous fame as the founder of the new science of genetics. Mendel demonstrated that the inheritance of certain traits in pea plants follows particular patterns, now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance...
which appeared to conflict with Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. This was the start of a period in which the Modern evolutionary synthesis
Modern evolutionary synthesis
The modern evolutionary synthesis is a union of ideas from several biological specialties which provides a widely accepted account of evolution...
came into being.
Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist...
, co-founder of the theory of evolution by natural selection, with Darwin, wrote of Reid:
It is refreshing to turn to Mr. Archdall Reid's volume which, though unnecessarily diffuse, is full of original ideas and acute reasoning. The larger part of it is devoted to a discussion of the general subject of organic evolution. This is exceedingly well done, and it contains a very forcible argument against the possibility of the inheritance of acquired characters in the higher animals, derived from the facts of cell-division and specialisation in the development of the individual. This argument has not, within my knowledge, been so clearly and forcibly set forth by any other writer. There are also some very acute criticisms of the writings of Herbert Spencer and others on evolution, and great stress is laid on a rather neglected subject, the development of acquired characters during the growth of the individual, though on this point the author's views seem rather exaggerated and open to criticism.http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/wallace/S524.htm
and:
I was greatly pleased with Archdall Reid's view of Mendelism
in _Nature_.[35] He is a very clear and original thinker.http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/james-marchant/alfred-russel-wallace-letters--reminiscences-v-2-899/page-4-alfred-russel-wallace-letters--reminiscences-v-2-899.shtml
Works
- The Principles of Heredity
- The Laws of Heredity (1910), Methuen and Co. Ltd London
- The Present Evolution of Man (1896), London: Chapman & Hall