The Darwin Medal is one of the medals awarded by the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

for "distinction in evolution, biological diversity and developmental, population and organismal biology". In 1885, International Darwin Memorial Fund was transferred to the Royal Society. The fund was devoted for promotion of biological research, and was used to establish the Darwin Medal. The medal was first awarded to

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 ...

in 1890 for "his independent origination of the theory of the origin of species by natural selection." The medal commemorates the work of English biologist

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 ...

(1809–1882). Darwin, most famous for his 1859 book ''

On the Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life'')The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by M ...

,'' was a fellow of the Royal Society, and had received the

Royal Medal The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal and The King's Medal (depending on the gender of the monarch at the time of the award), is a silver-gilt medal, of which three are awarded each year by the Royal Society. Two are given for "the mo ...

in 1853 and the

Copley Medal The Copley Medal is the most prestigious award of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, conferred "for sustained, outstanding achievements in any field of science". The award alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the bio ...

in 1864. The diameter of the Darwin Medal is inch (5.7 cm). It is made of silver. The

obverse The obverse and reverse are the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''obverse'' ...

has Darwin's portrait, while the reverse has a wreath of plants with Darwin's name in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, "Carolus Darwin". It is surrounded by the years of his birth and death in Roman numerals (MDCCCIX and MDCCCLXXXII). The general design of the medal was by John Evans, the president of the Royal Numismatic Society. Since its creation the Darwin Medal has been awarded over 60 times. Among the recipients are Francis Darwin, Charles Darwin's son, and two married couples: Jack and Yolande Heslop-Harrison in 1982 and Peter and Rosemary Grant in 2002. Initially accompanied by a grant of £100, the medal is currently awarded with a grant of £2,000. All citizens who have been residents of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

, or the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

for more than three years are eligible for the medal. The medal was awarded biennially from 1890 until 2018; since then it is awarded annually.

List of recipients

References

External links

* {{featured list Awards established in 1890 Awards of the Royal Society Biennial events Biology awards Charles Darwin 1890 establishments in the United Kingdom 1890 in biology

List of recipients

See also

References

External links