George John Romanes (20 May 1848 – 23 May 1894) was a Canadian-Scots evolutionary biologist and

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

who laid the foundation of what he called comparative psychology, postulating a similarity of

cognitive process Cognition is the "mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ima ...

es and mechanisms between humans and other animals. He was the youngest of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

's academic friends, and his views on evolution are historically important. He popularized the term neo-Darwinism, which in the late 19th century was considered as a theory of evolution that focuses on natural selection as the main evolutionary force. Romanes' early death was a loss to the cause of evolutionary biology in Britain. Within six years Mendel's work was rediscovered, and a whole new agenda opened up for debate.

Early life

George Romanes was born in Kingston,

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

(now Ontario), in 1848, the youngest of three children, all boys, in a well-to-do and intellectually cultivated family. His father was Rev George Romanes (1805–1871), a Scottish

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

minister. Two years after his birth, his parents moved to Cornwall Terrace in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, United Kingdom, which would set Romanes on the path to a fruitful and lasting relationship with

. During his youth, Romanes resided temporarily in Germany and Italy, developing a fluency in both German and Italian. His early education was inconsistent, undertaken partly in public schools, and partly at home. He developed an early love for poetry and music, at which he excelled. However, his true passion resided elsewhere, and the young Romanes decided to study science, abandoning a prior ambition to become a clergyman like his father.

Adulthood

Although he came from an educated home, his school education was erratic. He entered university half-educated and with little knowledge of the ways of the world. He studied medicine and physiology, graduating from

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...

with the degree of BA in 1871, and is commemorated there by a stained glass window in the chapel. It was at Cambridge that he came first to the attention of

: "How glad I am that you are so young!" said Darwin. Romanes, Ethel 1896. ''Life and letters of George John Romanes''. Longmans, Green, London. p3 Forging a relationship with Darwin was not difficult for Romanes, who reputedly inherited a "sweetness of temper and calmness of manner" from his father. The two remained friends for life. Guided by Michael Foster, Romanes continued to work on the physiology of invertebrates at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

under William Sharpey and Burdon-Sanderson. In 1879, at 31, Romanes was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

on the basis of his work on the nervous systems of

medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; ), also called Gorgo () or the Gorgon, was one of the three Gorgons. Medusa is generally described as a woman with living snakes in place of hair; her appearance was so hideous that anyone who looked upon her wa ...

e. However, Romanes' tendency to support his claims by anecdotal evidence rather than empirical tests prompted Lloyd Morgan's warning known as Morgan's Canon: :"In no case is an animal activity to be interpreted in terms of higher psychological processes, if it can be fairly interpreted in terms of processes which stand lower in the scale of psychological evolution and development". As a young man, Romanes was a Christian, and some, including his religious wife, later said that he regained some of that belief during his final illness. In fact, he became an agnostic due to the influence of Darwin. In a manuscript left unfinished at the end of his life he said that the theory of evolution had caused him to abandon religion. Romanes founded a series of free public lectures, the

Romanes Lecture The Romanes Lecture is a prestigious free public lecture given annually at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, England. The lecture series was founded by, and named after, the biologist George Romanes, and has been running since 1892. Over the years, ...

s, which continue to this day. He was a friend of Thomas Henry Huxley, who gave the second Romanes lecture. Towards the end of his life, he returned to Christianity.McGrew T. 2009. "A Pilgrim's Regress: George John Romanes and the Search for Rational Faith" ''The Christendom Review'' 2 (2). He died in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

on 23 May 1894. A memorial to Romanes exists in the north west corner of

Greyfriars Kirkyard Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 1 ...

in Edinburgh on the grave of his parents.

Professional life

Romanes's and Darwin's relationship developed quickly and they became close friends. This relationship began when Romanes became Darwin's research assistant during the last eight years of Darwin's life. The association Romanes had with Darwin was essential in Darwin's later works. Therefore, Darwin confided volumes of unpublished work which Romanes later used to publish papers. Like Darwin, Romanes's theories were met with scepticism and were not accepted initially. The majority of Romanes's work attempted to make a connection between

animal consciousness Animal consciousness, or animal awareness, is the Quality (philosophy), quality or state of self-awareness within an animal, or of being aware of an external object or something within itself. In humans, consciousness has been defined as: senti ...

and human consciousness. Some problems were encountered during his research that he addressed with the development of physiological selection. This was Romanes's answer to three objections to Darwin's isolation theory of speciation. These were: species characteristics that have no evolutionary purpose; the widespread fact of inter-specific sterility; and the need for varieties to escape the swamping effects of inter-crossing after permanent species are established. At the end of his career the majority of his work was directed towards the development of a relationship between intelligence and placement on an evolutionary tree. Romanes believed that the further along an organism was on an evolutionary standpoint, the more likely that organism would be to possess a higher level of functioning.

Family

Romanes was the last child born of three children from George Romanes and Isabella Cair Smith. The majority of his immediate and extended family were descendant from

Scottish Highland The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

tribes. His father, Reverend George Romanes, was a professor at Queens College in Kingston, Canada and taught Greek at the local university until the family moved back to England. Romanes and his wife Ethel Duncan were married on 11 February 1879. They were happily married and studied together. Romanes was said to be an "ideal father" to their six children. Both Romanes' mother and father were involved in the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

and

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Church during his childhood. Romanes was baptised Anglican and was heavily involved with the Anglican teachings during his youth, despite the fact his parents were not heavily involved with any religion. It is speculated that Darwin may have been viewed as a father figure to Romanes. Darwin did not agree with the teachings of the Catholic Church because the fundamental teachings were not supported by his scientific findings at the time. This could explain Romanes' conversion to agnosticism.

Philosophical and political views

When Romanes attended Gonville and Caius College Cambridge, he entered into an essay contest on the topic of "Christian Prayer considered in relation to the belief that Almighty governs the world by general laws". Romanes did not have much hope in winning, but much to his surprise he took first place in this contest and received the Burney prize. After winning the Burney prize, Romanes came to the conclusion that -- even though his father had been a Reverend -- he could no longer be faithful to his Christian religion due to his love and commitment for science. Therefore, Romanes went into great detail about religion and how all aspects of the mind need to be involved to be faithfully committed to religion in his book ''Thoughts on Religion''. He believed that one had to have an extremely high level of will to be dedicated to God or Christ.Romanes, G. J., & Gore, C. (1902). ''Thoughts on religion'' (5th ed.). Chicago, Ill.: Open court Pub. Co He had earlier published a book on the subject in general called ''A Candid Examination of Theism'', where he concluded that God's existence was not supported by the evidence, but stated his unhappiness with the fact.

Romanes on evolution

Romanes tackled the subject of evolution frequently. For the most part he supported

Darwinism ''Darwinism'' is a term used to describe a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others. The theory states that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural sel ...

and the role of

natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the Heredity, heritable traits characteristic of a population over generation ...

. However, he perceived three problems with Darwinian evolution: #The difference between natural species and domesticated varieties in respect to fertility. his problem was especially pertinent to Darwin, who used the analogy of change in domesticated animals so frequently# Structures which serve to distinguish allied species are often without any known utilitarian significance. [taxonomists choose the most visible and least changeable features to identify a species, but there may be a host of other differences which though not useful to the taxonomist are significant in survival terms] # The swamping influence upon an incipient species-split of free inter-crossing. [Here we strike the problem which most perplexed Darwin, with his ideas of blending inheritance. It was solved by the rediscovery of Mendelian genetics, and the modern synthesis which showed that particulate inheritance could underlie continuous variation. Romanes also made the acute point that Darwin had not actually shown how natural selection produced species, despite the title of his famous book ('' On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection''). Natural selection could be the 'machine' for producing adaptation, but still in question was the mechanism for splitting species. Romanes' own solution to this was called 'physiological selection'. His idea was that variation in reproductive ability, caused mainly by the prevention of inter-crossing with parental forms, was the primary driving force in the production of new species. The majority view then (and now) was that geographical separation is the primary force in species splitting (or allopatry) and secondarily was the increased sterility of crosses between incipient species. Taking influence from Darwin, Romanes was a proponent of both natural selection and the inheritance of acquired characteristics. The latter was denied by

Alfred Russel Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was an English naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He independently conceived the theory of evolution through natural selection; his 1858 pap ...

, a strict selectionist. Romanes came into a dispute with Wallace over the definition of Darwinism.

Published works

When

died, Romanes defended Darwin's theories by attempting to rebut criticisms and attacks levied by other psychologists against the Darwinian school of thought. Romanes expanded on Darwin's theories of

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

and

by advancing a theory of behaviour based on comparative psychology. In ''Animal Intelligence,'' Romanes demonstrated similarities and dissimilarities between cognitive and physical functions of various animals.Abbott, C. (n.d.). George Romanes. ''Psychology History''. In ''Mental Evolution in Animals,'' Romanes illustrated the evolution of the cognitive and physical functions associated with animal life. Romanes believed that animal intelligence evolves through behavioural conditioning, or positive reinforcement. Romanes then published ''Mental Evolution in Man,'' which focused on the evolution of human cognitive and physical functions. In 1890, Romanes published ''Darwin, and After Darwin,'' where he attempted to explain the relationship between science and religion. All of his notes on this subject were left to Charles Gore. Gore used the notes in preparing ''Thoughts on Religion,'' and published the work under Romanes' name. ''The Life and Letters of George Romanes'' offers a semi-autobiographical account of Romanes's life.

Accomplishments

* 1879: Romanes was selected for the

. * 1886–1890: Romanes was a professor at

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. * 1892: When he was a professor at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, Romanes created a series of lectures known as '' Romanes Lectures''.Rees, L. (2 November 2011). The Romanes Lecture – Lord Rees. ''- University of Oxford''. ** These lectures are currently still held once a year in memory of Romanes. * Romanes is also known for creating the following words and meanings: **

Anthropomorphism Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

: attributing human-like qualities to other animals.Marcum, A., & Bradley, M. (n.d.). Psyography: Biographies on Psychologists. ''Psyography: Biographies on Psychologists''. ** Anecdotal method: the use of observational methods to collect data on animal behaviour. * He developed the stepping stairs for

cognitive development Cognitive development is a field of study in neuroscience and psychology focusing on a child's development in terms of information processing, conceptual resources, perceptual skill, language learning, and other aspects of the developed adult bra ...

References

Publications

''The Scientific Evidences of Organic Evolution,''
Macmillan and Co., 1882 st Pub. 1877
''Candid Examination of Theism,''
Trübner & Co., 1878 seudonymously published as Physicus
''Animal Intelligence,''
D. Appleton and Company, 1892 st Pub. 1882
''Mental Evolution in Animals, with a Posthumous Essay on Instinct by Charles Darwin,''
Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., 1883.
''Jelly-Fish, Star-Fish and Sea Urchins, Being a Research on Primitive Nervous Systems,''
K. Paul, Trench & Co., 1885.

The Journal of the Linnean Society, Vol. 19, 1886.
''Mental Evolution in Man,''
Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., 1888. * ''Darwin, and after Darwin,'' (1892–97, a work of significance for historians of evolution theory): *
''The Darwinian Theory,''
The Open Court Publishing Company, 1910 st Pub. 1892 *
''Post-Darwinian Questions: Heredity and Utility,''
The Open Court Publishing Company, 1906 st Pub. 1895 *
''Post-Darwinian Questions: Isolation and Physiological Selection,''
The Open Court Publishing Company, 1914 st Pub. 1897
''Mind and Motion and Monism,''
Longmans, Green, and Co., 1895.
''An Examination of Weismannism,''
The Open Court Publishing company, 1893 (

August Weismann August Friedrich Leopold Weismann (; 17 January 18345 November 1914) was a German evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist. Fellow German Ernst Mayr ranked him as the second most notable evolutionary theorist of the 19th century, after Charl ...

was the leading evolutionary theoretician at the turn of the 19th century).
''Thoughts on Religion,''
Longmans, Green & Co., 1895.
''Essays,''
Longmans, Green & Co., 1897.

Articles

"Christian Prayer and General Laws: Being the Burney Prize Essay for the Year 1873,"
Macmillan & Co., 1874.
"Fetichism in Animals,"
''Nature,'' 27 December 1877.
"Recreation,"
''The Nineteenth Century,'' Vol. VI, July/December 1879.
"Suicide,"
''Nature,'' December 1881.
"American Ants,"
''Nature,'' 2 March 1882.
"Nature and Thought,"
''The Contemporary Review,'' Vol. XLIII, June 1883.
"Man and Brute,"
''The North American Review,'' Vol. 139, No. 333, Aug. 1884. * "Mind in Men and Animals," ''The North American Review,'' March 1885.
"Physiological Selection,"
''The Nineteenth Century,'' Vol. XXI, January/June 1887.
"Mental Differences Between Men and Women,"
''The Nineteenth Century,'' Vol. XXI, January/June 1887.
"Concerning Women,"
''The Forum,'' Vol. IV, 1887.
"Recent Critics of Darwinism,"
''The Contemporary Review,'' Vol. LIII, January/June 1888.
"Mr. Wallace on Darwinism,"
''The Contemporary Review,'' Vol. LVI, July/December 1889.
"Weismann's Theory of Heredity,"
''The Contemporary Review,'' Vol. LVII, January/June 1890.
"Mr. A. R. Wallace on Physiological Selection,"
''The Monist,'' Vol. I, N°. 1, October 1890.
"Origin of Human Faculty,"
''Brain; a Journal of Neurology,'' Vol. XII, 1890.
"The Psychic Life of Micro-Organisms,"
''The Open Court,'' Vol. IV, 1890–1891.
"Aristotle as a Naturalist,"
''The Contemporary Review,'' Vol. LIX, January/June 1891.
"Thought and Language,"
Part II, ''The Monist,'' Vol. 2, No. 1, October 1891; No. 3, April 1892.
"Critical Remarks on Weismannism,"
''The Open Court,'' Vol. VII, N°. 313, August 1893.
"Weismann and Galton,"
''The Open Court,'' Vol. VII, N°. 315, September 1893.
"A Note on Panmixia,"
''The Contemporary Review,'' Vol. LXIV, July/December 1893.
"Longevity and Death,"
''The Monist,'' Vol. V, N°. 2, January 1895.
"The Darwinism of Darwin, and of the Post-Darwinian Schools,"
''The Monist,'' Vol. VI, N°. 1, October 1895.
"Isolation in Organic Evolution,"
''The Monist,'' Vol. VIII, 1898.

Miscellany

''Observations on the Locomotor System of Echinodermata,''
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 172, Part III, 1882.
''Darwinism Illustrated: Wood-engravings Explanatory of the Theory of Evolution,''
The Open Court Publishing Company, 1892.
''A Selection from the Poems of George John Romanes,''
Longmans, Green & Co., 1896.

External links

* Works by George Romanes at

Wikisource Wikisource is an online wiki-based digital library of free-content source text, textual sources operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole; it is also the name for each instance of that project, one f ...

Catalogue of the Papers of George John Romanes, 1867–1927
* *

Pilgrim's Regress by George Romanes

* ttp://post.queensu.ca/~forsdyke/evolutio.htm Evolution by Romanes {{DEFAULTSORT:Romanes, George 1848 births 1894 deaths 19th-century British people 19th-century English people Academics of University College London Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge British zoologists English zoologists Ethologists Evolutionary biologists Fellows of the Royal Society Fullerian Professors of Physiology Pre-Confederation Ontario people