- William Joscelyn Arkell
Infobox_Scientist
name = William Josceyln Arkell
image_width =
caption =
birth_date = Birth date|1904|06|09
birth_place =Highworth ,Wiltshire ,United Kingdom
death_date = death date and age|1958|04|18|1904|6|09|df=yes
death_place =Cambridge ,United Kingdom
residence =
nationality =
field =Jurassic Palaeontology andStratigraphy
work_institution =University of Oxford ;University of Cambridge
alma_mater =University of Oxford
doctoral_advisor =J. A. Douglas
doctoral_students =Anthony Hallam , Michael Howarth
known_for = Geology of theJurassic
prizes = 1949Lyell Medal of theGeological Society of London ;1953Leopold von Buch Medal,German Geological Society William Joscelyn Arkell
M.A. ;D.Phil .;D.Sc .; FGS.; FRS. (June 9 ,1904 -April 18 ,1958 ) was a Britishgeologist andpaleontologist , regarded as the leading authority on theJurassic Period during the middle part of the Twentieth century.Childhood
Arkell was born in
Highworth ,Wiltshire the youngest of a family of seven. His father, James Arkell was a partner in the prosperous family business "Arkell's Brewery " (which is still family owned today). His mother, Laura Jane Arkell was an artist of notable ability.He developed a deep love of the English countryside from an early age, gained in no doubt from the long family summer holidays spent at
Swanage ,Dorset . He was later educated at Wellington College inBerkshire , where his ability inNatural History was recognised and he was able to devote significant time to develop his knowledge of this subject. Indeed, he was a regular prize winner for hisNatural History essays, one of which was a treatise on theDorset Robber Flies (Asilidae ). He also privately published a series of poems, "Seven Poems", which reflected his love of nature and the outdoors.Student life
In October 1922, at the second attempt (due a failure in
Latin ), Arkell was admitted toNew College, Oxford . He had initially intended to readentomology and despite being tutored by the greatJulian Huxley , he decided that his career lay ingeology andpalaeontology . In 1925, he graduated withFirst Class Honours in geology. He remained atOxford University after the award of the Burdett-Coutts research scholarship. His research topic involved thetaxonomy of thebivalves from theUpper Jurassic Corallian beds of England. For this and other papers regarding theJurassic of southern England, he was awarded aD.Phil in 1928.Whilst undertaking his doctoral research, Arkell spent four winter seasons (1926-30) investigating the evidence of
Palaeolithic human remains in theNile Valley ofEgypt in association with theUniversity of Chicago . Four notablemonographs were the result of this work.Oxford don
Arkell was awarded a lectureship in
geology atNew College, Oxford in 1927 and later, in 1929, became a Senior Research Fellow of that College. With little teaching or administrative duties to speak of, Arkell was able to devote almost all his time to research. This culminated with the publication, in 1933, of "The Jurassic System of Great Britain". This large, 681 page work critically examined and consolidated all previous work on theJurassic , including the formations described by the pioneer on BritishGeology ,William Smith in the Nineteenth century. It recognised Arkell as an authority on theJurassic , which was remarkable given he was only 29.He also published extensive work on the
Upper Jurassic reef deposits (known as the Coral Rag) of England. He was also an expert on the use of Jurassic limestones as building materials and the terminology used by quarrymen. Arkell was also interested in thetectonic history of Southern England, particularly with reference to the highlyfolded beds of theIsle of Purbeck . He also contributed to reports published by theBritish Geological Survey , especially around the area ofWeymouth and Portland .The
Second World War interrupted his research in 1941 and Arkell worked for the Ministry of Transport in London, when bombing of that city was at its most intense. It was during this period that he became seriously ill, spending five months in hospital following apneumothorax operation.Cambridge University
Following demobilisation at the end of the war, Arkell accepted a Senior Research Fellowship at
Trinity College, Cambridge , holding an office at theSedgwick Museum . It was during this time that Arkell began to work on the use of ammonites asZone fossils in Jurassic stratigraphy and became the leading expert on this specialised area. He was inundated with fossils for identification, particularly from oil companies. As a consequence, he travelled widely in theMiddle East examining manyJurassic exposures from this area.Arkell then consolidated his knowledge of the Jurassic and published "Jurassic Geology of the World" in 1956. The large, detailed volume to this day remains a classic and influential text.
Personal life
Arkell married Ruby Percival in 1929 and purchased a large house at
Cumnor , nearOxford before relocation to Cambridge in 1949. Together they had three sons, born between 1932 and 1937. They also established a holiday home atRingstead Bay inDorset . Due to his connection with the family brewery business, Arkell was independently wealthy.Despite his large frame and height (he was 6 feet 4 inches tall), Arkell was never a well man. In the autumn of 1956, he suffered a severe
stroke which left him partially paralysed and with double vision. This was to provide a detriment to his Sunday hobby of water colour painting. Despite this his determination to continue his work and correspondence atCambridge University continued. However, he suffered a second stroke on April 18th, 1958 and died several hours later.Awards and Honours
He received a
D.Sc from theUniversity of Oxford in 1934 and was elected as aFellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1947. He was awarded theLyell Medal of theGeological Society of London in 1949, and the Leopold von Buch medal of the German Geological Society in 1953. Due to the large volume and quality of his research output, many contemporaries who never had the opportunity to meet him assumed that he had died in old age.Source
Parts edited from Cox, L.R. (1958). "William Joscelyn Arkell"., Biog. Mem. Royal. Soc. Vol. 4, p.1-14.
Works
* "Jurassic Geology of the World"
* "The Jurassic System In Great Britain"External links
* [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0080-4606(195811)4%3C1%3AWJA1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-3 Biography] (page one)
Further reading
* cite encyclopedia
last = Edmonds
first = J.M.
title = Arkell, William Joscelyn
encyclopedia =Dictionary of Scientific Biography
volume = 1
pages = 284-286
publisher = Charles Scribner's Sons
location = New York
date = 1970
isbn = 0684101149Persondata
NAME=Arkell, William Joscelyn
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=British paleontologist
DATE OF BIRTH=June 9 ,1904
PLACE OF BIRTH=Highworth ,Wiltshire
DATE OF DEATH=April 18 ,1958
PLACE OF DEATH=Cambridge
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