Sidnie Milana Manton (4 May 1902 – 2 January 1979) was an influential British zoologist. She is known for making advances in the field of functional

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

. She is regarded as being one of the most outstanding zoologists of the twentieth century.

Early life

Sidnie Milana Manton was born in Kensington,

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 ...

the daughter of a descendant of French aristocracy and a dentist. She was educated at the Froebel Demonstration School and at St. Paul's Girls' School before joining Girton College, Cambridge in 1921. While at Girton College she was awarded the Montifiore Prize in 1925. She came top of the class list, but was not awarded the prize that that position usually brings, because women were not at that time officially members of Cambridge University.

Career

Manton initially worked as an Alfred Yarrow Research Student at Girton College, Cambridge, and later was the first woman to receive a Doctor of Science (ScD) title from Cambridge University and the first woman to hold the post of Demonstrator in Comparative Anatomy at Cambridge University. She took part in an expedition to the Great Barrier Reef in 1928-1929, which was the first scientific study of any coral reef in the world. Manton was responsible for collection and preservation of specimens, particularly arthropods. The scientists, including Manton, collected unprecedented data on the reef's ecology and health, data which are still in use today. As her career at Cambridge University developed, she became Director of Studies in Natural Sciences, Director of Studies in Geography and Lecturer. While at Cambridge University she worked on the evolution of the

arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

s, publishing "''The Arthropoda: Habits, Functional Morphology and Evolution''" in 1977. Manton died on 2 January 1979. Her archives are held at the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

, and a collection of her letters and Diaries were published in 2020.

Honours and awards

She 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 ...

in March 1948, one of the first women to receive this honour. She was also a Fellow of the Linnean Society, and was awarded a Gold Medal by the Linnean Society in 1963. In 1968, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the

University of Lund Lund University () is a public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially founded in 1666 on the ...

in 1968. The

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity and organization devoted to the worldwide animal conservation, conservation of animals and their habitat conservation, habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained London Zo ...

awarded her the Frink Medal in 1977 for "the advances made by her towards the understanding of arthropod evolution.". Together these awards demonstrate the very high esteem in which her work was held during her lifetime, but recognition has also continued after her death. In 1992, the Manton crater on

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

was named after Sidnie Manton and her sister Irene Manton. In 2018 the

British Ecological Society The British Ecological Society is a learned society in the field of ecology that was founded in 1913. It is the oldest ecological society in the world. The Society's original objective was "to promote and foster the study of Ecology in its widest ...

and the Journal of Animal Ecology inaugurated the Sidnie Manton Award for early career ecologists.

Personal life

Manton's sister was the botanist Professor Irene Manton FRS. Manton married John Philip Harding in 1937. They had one son and one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manton, Sidnie 1902 births 1979 deaths People from Kensington People educated at St Paul's Girls' School Fellows of Girton College, Cambridge Female fellows of the Royal Society Place of death missing 20th-century British zoologists Fellows of the Royal Society 20th-century British women scientists British women entomologists Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge British marine biologists Women marine biologists