Lyall Watson

Lyall Watson (April 12, 1939 - 25 June 2008) was a South African botanist, zoologist, biologist, anthropologist, ethologist, and author of many new age books, among the most popular of which is the best seller "Supernature". Lyall Watson tried to make sense of natural and supernatural phenomena in biological terms. He is credited with the first published use of the term Hundredth Monkey in his 1979 book, "Lifetide". It is a hypothesis that aroused both interest and ire in the scientific community and continues to be a topic of discussion over a quarter century later.

He was born in Johannesburg as Malcolm Lyall-Watson. He had an early fascination for nature in the surrounding bush, learning from Zulu and !Kung bushmen. Watson attended boarding school at Rondebosch Boys' High School in Cape Town. He enrolled at age 15 at Witwatersrand University, where he earned degrees in botany and zoology, before securing an apprenticeship in palaentology under Raymond Dart, leading on to anthropological studies in Germany and the Netherlands. Later he earned degrees in geology, chemistry, marine biology, ecology and anthropology. He completed a doctorate of ethology at the University of London, under Desmond Morris. He also worked at the BBC writing and producing nature documentaries.

Around this time he shortened his name to Lyall Watson. He served as director of the Johannesburg Zoo, an expedition leader to various locales, and Seychelles commissioner for the International Whaling Commission.

In the late 1980s he presented Channel 4's coverage of sumo tournaments.

He was married three times. His first two marriages ended in divorce, and his third wife died in 2003. He was the eldest of three brothers, one of whom (Andrew) lived in Gympie, Queensland, Australia. It was while visiting Andrew that he died on 25 June 2008. [cite news|title=Lyall Watson|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2236703/Lyall-Watson.html|publisher=The Telegraph|date=2008-07-02] [cite news|title=Lyall Watson|url=http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/obituaries/2008/07/04/lyall-watson-64375-21226576/|publisher=Liverpool Daily News|date=2008-07-04] [cite news|title=Lyall Watson|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/jul/23/pressandpublishing?gusrc=rss&feed=books|publisher=The Guardian|date=2008-07-23]

Writing career

Lyall Watson began writing his first book, "Omnivore" during the early 1960s while under the supervision of Desmond Morris, and wrote more than 20 others.

Bibliography

*"Omnivore: The Role of Food in Human Evolution" (1972)
*"Supernature: A Natural History of the Supernatural" (1973)
*"The Biology of Death: A Matter of Life and Death" (1974)
*"The Romeo Error" (1974)
*"Gifts of Unknown Things: An Indonesian Adventure" (1976)
*"Lifetide: a Biology of the Unconscious" (1979)
*"Whales of the World: A Field Guide to the Cetaceans" (1981)
*"Lightning Bird: An African Adventure" (1982)
*"Heaven's Breath: A Natural History of the Wind" (1984)
*"Bali Entranced: A Celebration of Ritual" (1985) - published in Japanese only
*"Dreams of Dragons: Essays on the Edge of Natural History" (1986)
*"Beyond Supernature: A New Natural History of the Supernatural" (1986)
*"The Water Planet: A Celebration of the Wonder of Water" (1988)
*"Neophilia: The Tradition of the New" (1989)
*"Sumo: A Guide to Sumo Wrestling" (1989)
*"The Nature of Things: The Strange Behaviour of Inanimate Objects" (1990)
*"Lasting Nostalgia: Essays Out of Africa" (1992) - published in Japanese only
*"Turtle Islands: Ritual in Indonesia" (1995)
*"Dark Nature: A Natural History of Evil" (1995)
*"Monsoon: Essays on the Indian Ocean" (1996) - published in Japanese only
*"Lost Cradle: A Collection of Dialogues" (1997) - published in Japanese only
*"Warriors, Warthogs, and Wisdom: Growing up in Africa" (1997)
*"Jacobson's Organ and the Remarkable Nature of Smell" (2000)
*"Elephantoms: Tracking the Elephant" (2002)
*"The Whole Hog: Exploring the Extraordinary Potential of Pigs" (2004)

References

* [http://www.worldwhoswho.com/views/entry.html?id=wat-0230 WATSON, Lyall] International Who's Who. accessed September 3, 2006.

External links