Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Gregory, Richard Arman

Titel

Edward Heron-Allen 1861-1943

Ist Teil von

• Obituary notices of fellows of the Royal Society, 1943-11, Vol.4 (12), p.447-454

Ort / Verlag

London: The Royal Society

Erscheinungsjahr

1943

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

EZB Free E-Journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake is a high human endeavour in whatever field it is employed. It may be undertaken in order to acquire learning or explore unknown fields, which may or may not prove of particular intellectual or practical service; but deliberate, zealous and patient endeavours are essential attributes for the attainment of worthy achievement. There are many such students who are not professionally engaged in scientific occupations; and the results of their enquiries are mostly recorded in publications of local and other societies, while a few are given wider recognition. In this band of independent workers who began to increase the sum of natural knowledge with little hope or expectation of attaining scientific distinction, the names of Sir John Lubbock (Lord Avebury), Sir John Evans and Sir Alfred Kempe come naturally to mind in connexion with the Royal Society in contemporary history. In his spirit and service, Heron-Allen may appropriately be said to belong to this group of investigators. He was a man of wide-ranging versatility, but whatever enterprise he took up he was never satisfied until with persistent energy he had probed to the fundamentals of it and placed the whole matter in historical sequence. Hence there were few subjects within his ambit upon which he did not, sooner or later, produce a series of papers or a book treating the topic comprehensively and where possible tracing it back to its origins. His spirit was ever that of the scientific enquirer and his method of approach guided by a strong historical sense. Edward Heron-Allen was born on 17 December 1861, the son of George Allen, who was head of the firm of Allen and Son, solicitors, of Soho, London, founded in 1780 by Emmanuel Allen. The family was of Staffordshire origin, where it is known to have been established in the reign of Edward III. A branch spelling the name Alleyne and living at Grantham in Lincolnshire sent out an offshoot to the Barbadoes, where it achieved no little distinction; while the English branch produced at least one man of science in the person of John Allen, M.D., F.R.S. (1660-1741). Ralph Allen, of Bath, was the founder of the cross-country postal service and the grandfather of Emmanuel Allen.