Seeley was born in London on 18 February 1839, the second son of Richard Hovill Seeley, a goldsmith, and his second wife Mary Govier. When his father was declared bankrupt, Seeley was sent to live with a family of piano makers. Between the ages of eleven and fourteen, he went to a day school and then spent the next two years learning to make pianos. He also attended lectures at the Royal School of Mines by Thomas Henry Huxley, Edward Forbes, and other notable scientists. In 1855, with the support of his uncle, Seeley began to study law but shortly gave it up to pursue a career as an actuary. In the late 1850s, he studied English and mathematics at the Working Men's College and served as a secretary for the college's museum. He also worked in the library of the British Museum, where Samuel Pickworth Woodward encouraged him to study geology.[3]
In 1859, Seeley began studies at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and worked as an assistant for Adam Sedgwick at the Woodwardian Museum. He helped curate the museum's fossil collection and began field studies on the local geology. Seeley graduated from Sidney Sussex College in 1863 and joined St John's in 1868 but never took a degree.[4][5]
He died in Kensington, London and was buried in Brookwood Cemetery. He had married in 1872 Eleanora Jane, daughter of William Mitchell of Bath. Their daughter Maude married Arthur Smith Woodward, FRS.
Seeley determined that dinosaurs fell into two great groups, the Saurischia and the Ornithischia, based on the nature of their pelvic bones and joints. He published his results in 1888, from a lecture he had delivered the previous year.[6] Paleontologists of his time had been dividing the Dinosauria in various ways, depending on the structure of their feet and the form of their teeth. Seeley's division, however, has stood the test of time, though the birds have subsequently been found to descend, not from the "bird-hipped" Ornithischia, but from the "lizard-hipped" Saurischia. He found the two groups so distinct that he also argued for separate origins: not until the 1980s did new techniques of cladistic analysis show that both groups of dinosaurs really did have common ancestors in the Triassic. Seeley described and named numerous dinosaurs from their fossils in the course of his career.
His popular book on pterosaurs, Dragons of the Air (1901), found that the development of birds and pterosaurs paralleled each other. His belief that they had a common origin has been proved, for both are archosaurs, just not as close as he thought. He upset Richard Owen's characterization of the pterosaurs as cold-blooded, sluggish gliders, and recognized them as warm-blooded active fliers.
... he will be best remembered, perhaps, for the wonderful collections he made in the Karoo Beds of South Africa and the resulting exhibition in the Natural History branch of the British Museum of the remarkable skeleton of Pareiasaurus[8] and numerous other Anomodont reptiles ....[9]
^"Seeley, Harry Govier (SLY863HG)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
^H. G. Seeley, On the Classification of the Fossil Animals Commonly Named Dinosauria, Proc. R. Soc. Lond. January 1, 1887 43:165–171; doi:10.1098/rspl.1887.0117. See "Paper Dinosaurs" 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine An Exhibition of Original Publications from the Collections of the Linda Hall Library.
^"Library and Archive catalogue". The Royal Society. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
^"Plate I. Skeleton of Pareiasaurus Baini, Seeley". Geological Magazine. 32. 1895. doi:10.1017/s0016756800005689.
^"Obituary. Professor H. G. Seeley". Geological Magazine. 46: 93–94. 1909. doi:10.1017/s0016756800121697.
Further reading
Plug, C. (2020). "Seeley, Prof Harry Govier (palaeontology)". S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
Secord, J. A. (2004). "Seeley, Harry Govier". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
"Eminent Living Geologists: Professor H. G. Seeley". The Geological Magazine. Cambridge University Press. 4: 241–252. 1907. doi:10.1017/S0016756800133473.
External links
Works by or about Harry Govier Seeley at Wikisource
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Harry Govier Seeley.
Works by Harry Seeley at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
Michon Scott, "Harry Govier Seeley"
January 18, 2023
harry, seeley, harry, govier, seeley, february, 1839, january, 1909, british, paleontologist, born, 1839, february, 1839london, ukdied8, january, 1909, 1909, aged, kensington, london, uknationalitybritishawardslyell, medal, 1885, scientific, careerfieldspaleon. Harry Govier Seeley 18 February 1839 8 January 1909 was a British paleontologist 1 2 Harry SeeleyBorn 1839 02 18 18 February 1839London UKDied8 January 1909 1909 01 08 aged 69 Kensington London UKNationalityBritishAwardsLyell Medal 1885 Scientific careerFieldsPaleontology Contents 1 Early life 2 Dinosaurs 3 Publications 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksEarly life EditSeeley was born in London on 18 February 1839 the second son of Richard Hovill Seeley a goldsmith and his second wife Mary Govier When his father was declared bankrupt Seeley was sent to live with a family of piano makers Between the ages of eleven and fourteen he went to a day school and then spent the next two years learning to make pianos He also attended lectures at the Royal School of Mines by Thomas Henry Huxley Edward Forbes and other notable scientists In 1855 with the support of his uncle Seeley began to study law but shortly gave it up to pursue a career as an actuary In the late 1850s he studied English and mathematics at the Working Men s College and served as a secretary for the college s museum He also worked in the library of the British Museum where Samuel Pickworth Woodward encouraged him to study geology 3 In 1859 Seeley began studies at Sidney Sussex College Cambridge and worked as an assistant for Adam Sedgwick at the Woodwardian Museum He helped curate the museum s fossil collection and began field studies on the local geology Seeley graduated from Sidney Sussex College in 1863 and joined St John s in 1868 but never took a degree 4 5 He turned down positions both with the British Museum and the Geological Survey of Britain to work on his own Late in his career he accepted a position as Professor of Geology at King s College Cambridge and Bedford College London 1876 He was later Lecturer on Geology and Physiology at Dulwich College and Professor of Geology and Mineralogy at King s College London 1896 1905 He died in Kensington London and was buried in Brookwood Cemetery He had married in 1872 Eleanora Jane daughter of William Mitchell of Bath Their daughter Maude married Arthur Smith Woodward FRS Dinosaurs Edit Seeley s grave in Brookwood Cemetery Seeley determined that dinosaurs fell into two great groups the Saurischia and the Ornithischia based on the nature of their pelvic bones and joints He published his results in 1888 from a lecture he had delivered the previous year 6 Paleontologists of his time had been dividing the Dinosauria in various ways depending on the structure of their feet and the form of their teeth Seeley s division however has stood the test of time though the birds have subsequently been found to descend not from the bird hipped Ornithischia but from the lizard hipped Saurischia He found the two groups so distinct that he also argued for separate origins not until the 1980s did new techniques of cladistic analysis show that both groups of dinosaurs really did have common ancestors in the Triassic Seeley described and named numerous dinosaurs from their fossils in the course of his career His popular book on pterosaurs Dragons of the Air 1901 found that the development of birds and pterosaurs paralleled each other His belief that they had a common origin has been proved for both are archosaurs just not as close as he thought He upset Richard Owen s characterization of the pterosaurs as cold blooded sluggish gliders and recognized them as warm blooded active fliers He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in June 1879 for his work on reptiles and dinosaurs 7 and delivered their Croonian Lecture in 1887 he will be best remembered perhaps for the wonderful collections he made in the Karoo Beds of South Africa and the resulting exhibition in the Natural History branch of the British Museum of the remarkable skeleton of Pareiasaurus 8 and numerous other Anomodont reptiles 9 see Alfred BrownPublications EditThe Ornithosauria 1870 Factors in Life Three Lectures on Health Food Education 1884 Manual of Geology Theoretical and Practical 1885 The Freshwater Fishes Of Europe A History Of Their Genera Species Structure Habits And Distribution 1886 The Story of the Earth in Past Ages 1895 Dragons of the air an account of extinct flying reptiles 1901 References Edit Lydekker Richard 14 Jan 1909 Obituary Prof H G Seeley F R S Nature 79 2046 314 315 doi 10 1038 079314b0 Seeley Harry Govier Who s Who Vol 59 1907 p 1578 Secord 2004 Secord 2004 Seeley Harry Govier SLY863HG A Cambridge Alumni Database University of Cambridge H G Seeley On the Classification of the Fossil Animals Commonly Named Dinosauria Proc R Soc Lond January 1 1887 43 165 171 doi 10 1098 rspl 1887 0117 See Paper Dinosaurs Archived 2011 09 27 at the Wayback Machine An Exhibition of Original Publications from the Collections of the Linda Hall Library Library and Archive catalogue The Royal Society Retrieved 11 October 2010 Plate I Skeleton of Pareiasaurus Baini Seeley Geological Magazine 32 1895 doi 10 1017 s0016756800005689 Obituary Professor H G Seeley Geological Magazine 46 93 94 1909 doi 10 1017 s0016756800121697 Further reading EditPlug C 2020 Seeley Prof Harry Govier palaeontology S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Secord J A 2004 Seeley Harry Govier Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press Eminent Living Geologists Professor H G Seeley The Geological Magazine Cambridge University Press 4 241 252 1907 doi 10 1017 S0016756800133473 External links Edit Works by or about Harry Govier Seeley at Wikisource Wikimedia Commons has media related to Harry Govier Seeley Works by Harry Seeley at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Harry Seeley at Internet Archive Dragons of the Air 1901 at HathiTrust Works by Harry Seeley at LibriVox public domain audiobooks Michon Scott Harry Govier Seeley Harry G Seeley Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Harry Seeley amp oldid 1125564868, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
