John Lubbock, science, and the liberal intellectual
Abstract
John Lubbock's longest-standing scientific research interest was entomology. Some of his earliest systematic investigations of insect and marine life began under the tutelage of Darwin. Darwin shaped the trajectory of, and the programme for, Lubbock's natural history work. However, to understand John Lubbock's identity as a scientist, he must be located within the context of the Victorian ‘intellectual’. This paper traces Lubbock's entomological work from its early development under Darwin to his later work on insect sensory physiology and comparative psychology. Far from being the death of his scientific career, Lubbock's entry into Parliament marked the pinnacle of his career as a scientific intellectual. He built on his early work on invertebrate anatomy, physiology and taxonomy, and on his archaeological and anthropological research to expound his vision of mental evolution. His research on ‘savages’, on ants, bees and wasps, and on his dog, ‘Van’, permitted him to expatiate upon the psychic unity of all sentient beings, which, in turn, underpinned his overarching educational programme.
Citation
Clark , J F M 2014 , ' John Lubbock, science, and the liberal intellectual ' , Notes and Records of the Royal Society , vol. 68 , no. 1 , pp. 65-87 . https://doi.org/10.1098/rsnr.2013.0068
Publication
Notes and Records of the Royal Society
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0035-9149Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2013 The Author, Published by the Royal Society. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsnr.2013.0068
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