Elizabeth Janet Browne (née Bell, born 30 March 1950) is a British

historian of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient history, ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural science, natural, social science, social, and formal science, formal. Pr ...

, known especially for her work on the history of 19th-century biology. She taught at the

Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL (2000–2012) was a research and teaching centre within University College London dedicated to the history of medicine. It was created through a grant from the Wellcome Trust, on the mo ...

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 ...

, before returning to

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

. She is currently Aramont Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University.

Biography

Browne is the daughter of Douglas Bell CBE (1905–1993) and his wife Betty Bell. She married Nicholas Browne in 1972; they have two daughters. Browne gained a BA degree from

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

in 1972 and from

Imperial College, London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

an MSc (1973) and PhD (1978) on the history of science. She was a research fellow at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. She received an honorary Doctor in Science (Sc. D) degree from

in 2009 in recognition of her contribution to the biographical knowledge 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 ...

. After working as an associate editor on the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Library project to collect, edit, and publish the correspondence of Charles Darwin, she wrote a two-volume biography of the naturalist: ''Charles Darwin: Voyaging'' (1995), on his youth and years on the ''Beagle'', and ''Charles Darwin: The Power of Place'' (2002), covering the years after the publication of his theory 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 ...

. The latter book has received acclaim for its innovative interpretation of the role of Darwin's correspondence in the formation of his scientific theory and recruitment of scientific support. In 2004, this volume won the

History of Science Society The History of Science Society (HSS), founded in 1924, is the primary professional society for the academic study of the history of science. The society has over 3,000 members worldwide. It publishes the quarterly journal ''Isis'' and the yearly ...

's Pfizer Award, the Society's highest honor awarded to individual works of scholarship. In 2003, it also won the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Un ...

for Biography. In 2020 she was admitted as a member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

. Browne currently serves as the Aramont Professor in the History of Science at

. She specializes in life sciences, natural history, and evolutionary biology from the 17th to the 20th century.

Publications

The following is a selection of Browne's publications, chosen primarily by convenience from internet searches, but also to indicate the timespan over which she has published. * * * * * * *
Full article
* * * Also * * *

References

External links

*
Janet Browne profile at Harvard University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Janet 1950 births British historians of science Harvard University faculty Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of Imperial College London Academics of University College London Charles Darwin biographers Charles Darwin Living people James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients Historians of biology Members of the American Philosophical Society Members of the Royal Irish Academy Corresponding fellows of the British Academy National Book Critics Circle Award winners