Maurice Burton (28 March 1898 – 9 September 1992) was a British

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

and popular science author, who produced many

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

encyclopedias and books including a skeptical treatment of the

Loch Ness Monster The Loch Ness Monster (), known affectionately as Nessie, is a mythical creature in Scottish folklore that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or more humps protrud ...

Early life and education

Burton was born in Hornsey,

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 ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, on 28 March 1898. He attended Holloway School. Burton studied

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

under Arthur Dendy.

Career

Burton became a schoolteacher. He later joined the staff of the

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...

in 1926 where he remained for the rest of his career until his retirement in 1958. He was Curator of

Sponge Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a basal clade and a sister taxon of the diploblasts. They are sessile filter feeders that are bound to the seabed, and a ...

s at the museum from 1927 to 1948, then its Deputy Keeper of Zoology from 1949 to 1958. His popular science writing included major work on encyclopedias and acting as Science Editor for the ''

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...

'' and Nature Correspondent for the ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

''. In 1961, he published the book ''The Elusive Monster'' which reviews the evidence for the

in the light of his professional knowledge. He concluded that it was unlikely that such creatures were living in

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claimed sightings of the cryptozoology, cryptozoological Loch Ness Mons ...

. He commented further on this topic in the ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...

''. Many of Burton's books were aimed at a juvenile audience. Some of his later books or revised editions were published with his son, Robert Burton (born 1941) also trained as a zoologist and who published many natural history books himself. Robert also took over his father's Nature Notes column in the ''Daily Telegraph''. His daughter Jane Burton illustrated many of the books.

Personal life and demise

Burton married Margaret Maclean in 1929. They had two sons and a daughter. He died in

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, on 9 September 1992. Sound recordings of Burton are available at The Albury History Society.

Publications

* 1938 (with A. Dendy): ''Outlines of Evolutionary Biology'' (Constable) * 1952: ''Curiosities of Animal Life'' (Ward Lock) * 1953: ''Animal Courtship'' (Hutchinson) * 1955: ''When Dumb Animals Talk'' (Hutchinson) * 1956: ''Infancy in Animals'' (Hutchinson) * 1957: ''Animal Legends'' (Coward-McCann) * 1959: ''The Phoenix Reborn'' (Hutchinson) * 1960: ''Under the Sea'' (Franklin Watts) * 1961: ''The Elusive Monster: An analysis of the evidence from Loch Ness'' (Hart-Davies) * 1962: ''Systematic Dictionary of Mammals of the World'' (Museum Press) * 1965: ''Young Animals'' (Hamlyn) * 1968: ''Animals'', Vol. 3 of the Frank Watts Reference Library (Frank Watts) * 1968: ''University Dictionary of Mammals of the World'' (Crowell) * 1968: ''Wild Animals of the British Isles'' (F. Warne) * 1969: ''Animal World in Colour'' (12 volumes) (Children's Press) * 1971: ''Animal Oddities: The Strangest Living Creatures'' (Odhams), * 1972: ''Encyclopedia of Animals in Colour'' (Octopus), * 1973: ''The Sea's Inhabitants'' (Eric Thomas) * 1973: ''The Sixth Sense of Animals'' (Taplinger), * 1974: ''All-Colour Book of Baby Animals'' (Octopus) * 1974: ''Prehistoric Animals'' (F. Muller), * 1974 (with R. Burton: ''The Life of Reptiles and Amphibians'' (Octopus), * 1975 (with R. Burton): ''Encyclopedia of Insects and Arachnids'' (Octopus), * 1976 (with R. Van Assen & C. J. Barnard): ''Guide to the Mammals of Britain and Europe'' (Elsevier) * 1976 (with R. Burton): ''Encyclopedia of the Animal Kingdom'' (Octopus), * 1979 (with R. Burton): ''The Animal World: an encyclopaedia of animal behaviour'' (Macmillan) * 1979: ''A Zoo at Home'' (J. M. Dent), * 1980 (with R. Burton): ''The New Funk & Wagnall's Illustrated Wildlife Encyclopedia'' (Funk & Wagnall) * 1980 (with R. Burton): ''The New International Wildlife Encyclopedia'' (Purnell) * 1990: ''The Life of Fishes'' (Simon & Schuster), * 1994 (with Robert Burton): ''The Marshall Cavendish International Wildlife Encyclopedia''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Maurice 1898 births 1992 deaths Writers from the London Borough of Haringey People educated at Holloway School Alumni of King's College London English nature writers English science writers British encyclopedists Employees of the Natural History Museum, London 20th-century British zoologists People from Hornsey