SIR RICHARD OWEN
- The scientist who named the dinosaurs By Margaret Brecknell
One of the 19th-century’s most influential scientists, Sir Richard Owen, died 130 years ago this month in December 1892. The Lancaster-born man has two impressive claims to fame. In addition to playing a crucial role in the foundation of London’s world-famous Natural History Museum, he is credited with coining the word “dinosaur” to describe the extinct prehistoric reptiles. Yet he was also a controversial figure, who was often at odds with his fellow scientists.
O
wen was born on Thurnham Street in Lancaster on 20th July 1804, the youngest of six children of a local merchant. He attended Lancaster Royal Grammar School, where he was unpromisingly described by one schoolmaster as “lazy and impudent”. 148
LANCASHIRE & NORTH WEST MAGAZINE
At the age of 16, he began to study medicine with a local surgeon-apothecary named Leonard Dickson. Owen’s apprenticeship was subsequently transferred to another man, James Stockdale Harrison, who acted as surgeon at Lancaster Castle Prison. Harrison’s apprentices were allowed to carry out post-mortem examinations on executed prisoners at Lancaster Castle and this early introduction to human anatomy served Owen well in his future career. Owen left Lancaster in 1824 to study at Edinburgh University. Here he first began to take an interest in comparative anatomy, which involves the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species to understand their evolutionary development. The following year, he began work at London’s St Bartholomew’s Hospital. One of his early jobs was to prepare the corpses to be dissected during lectures to medical students.
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