Shaping Ecology: The Life of Arthur Tansley

Arthur Tansley turned the old plant geography into the new science of ecology, teaching botanists to look at vegetation, rather than individual plant species. He recognised that vegetation is continually changing and how, especially in the British islands, it is influenced by man′s activities. Safeguarding wild places from the continuing pressures of agriculture and industry would demand, he argued, not sterile preservation but active conservation within nature reserves, places where the principles of ecology could be applied to the scientific management of plants and animals.

Author of a best–selling book on psychology, and a respected philosopher, Tansley was no mere academic. He used his authority and political skills to achieve practical results, such as the foundation of the Nature Conservancy, of which he was the first Chairman. In the ecological principles he laid out, most notably the ecosystem, he left an invaluable legacy for ecologists and conservationists worldwide.

List of Figures vi

Foreword viii

Preface and Acknowledgements x

1 Kingley Vale: Worth Fighting For 1

2 The Origins of Ecology 15

3 George Tansley, Christian Socialism, and the Working Men′s College 20

4 Highgate School, University College, London, and Trinity College, Cambridge 38

5 Teaching at University College, the Chicks, and Marriage to Edith 48

6 Seashores and Woodlands: Looking for Patterns 60

7 The Managing Director of British Ecology 80

8 Disillusion and Disaffection 101

9 The Oxford Years, 1927–1937 122

10 The Magnum Opus, Grantchester, and Retirement 144

11 The Years of Fulfilment, 1937–1953 155

12 A Detached Liberal Philosopher and Free–thinker 179

References 198

Index 206

Peter Ayres was taught by, or worked with, several of Tansley′s closest friends. He was for seven years Executive Editor of the New Phytologist, the journal founded by Tansley. After a career teaching plant physiology and pathology at Lancaster University, his interest in the history of plant sciences has led him to write Harry Marshall Ward and the Fungal Thread of Death and The Aliveness of Plants: The Darwins at the Dawn of Plant Science.

In conclusion, this book is well written and it is easy to locate specific information on Tansley and the broader contexts of his work throughout the book.   (The British Journal for the History of Science, 1 June 2014)

Ayres s book shows how one man was able to create whole climates of opinion as well as a new discipline; it is warmly recommended.   (Archives of Natural history, 1 August 2013)

Despite hints of Tansley s personal complexity, we are left with an appreciation of his remarkable professional legacy that continues to foster scientific alliances and conservation of nature.   (Ecology, 1 April 2013)

To all of us who cherish such wild places in modern Britain, as this book reveals, we owe Tansley a great debt.   (The Biologist, 1 June 2013)

A valuable acquisition for institutions with programs in ecology, botany, environmental sciences, or history of science.  Summing Up: Highly recommended.  Academic and general readers, all levels.   (Choice, 1 March 2013)

It is directed at ecologists, but it is a straightforward biography and, as such, deserves to be widely read.   (Journal of Insect Conservervation, 8 July 2012)