| Year |
Name |
Rationale[1][3][4][5] |
| 1890 |
Wallace, Alfred RusselAlfred Russel
Wallace |
'For his independent origination of the theory of the origin of
species by natural selection.' |
| 1892 |
Hooker, Joseph DaltonJoseph Dalton
Hooker |
'On account of his important contributions to the progress of
systematic botany, as evidenced by the "Genera Plantarum" and the
"Flora Indica"; but more especially on account of his intimate
association with Mr. Darwin in the studies preliminary to the
"Origin of Species".' |
| 1894 |
Huxley, Thomas HenryThomas Henry
Huxley |
'For his researches in comparative anatomy, and especially for
his intimate association with Mr. Darwin in relation to the "Origin
of Species".' |
| 1896 |
Battista Grassi,
GiovanniGiovanni Battista
Grassi |
'For his researches on the life history and societies of the
Termitidae, and on the developmental relationship between
Leptocephalus and the common eel and other muraenidae.' |
| 1898 |
Pearson, KarlKarl Pearson |
'For his work on the quantitative treatment of biological
problems.' |
| 1900 |
Haeckel, ErnstErnst Haeckel |
'For his long-continued and and [sic] highly important work in
zoology all of which has been inspired by the spirit of
Darwinism.' |
| 1902 |
Galton, FrancisFrancis Galton |
'For his numerous contributions to the exact study of heredity
& variation contained in "Hereditary Genius", "Natural
Inheritance", and other writings.' |
| 1904 |
Bateson, WilliamWilliam Bateson |
'For his important contribution to the theory of organic
evolution by his researches on variation and heredity.' |
| 1906 |
Vries, Hugo deHugo de Vries |
'On the ground of the significance and extent of his
experimental investigations in heredity & Variation.' |
| 1908 |
Weismann, AugustAugust Weismann |
'On the ground of his eminent services in support of the
doctrine of evolution by means of natural selection.' |
| 1910 |
Trimen, RolandRoland Trimen |
'On the ground of his South African bionomic researches, in
large part undertaken as the outcome of correspondence with Charles
Darwin.' |
| 1912 |
Darwin, FrancisFrancis Darwin |
'On the ground of his work in conjunction with Charles Darwin,
and his researches in vegetable physiology.' |
| 1914 |
Bagnall Poulton, EdwardEdward Bagnall
Poulton |
'On the ground of his researches in heredity.' |
| 1916 |
Delage, YvesYves Delage |
'On the ground of researches in zoology and biology.' |
| 1918 |
Fairfield Osborn, HenryHenry Fairfield
Osborn |
'For his valuable researches on vertebrate morphology and
palaeontology.' |
| 1920 |
Biffen, Rowland H.Rowland H.
Biffen |
'On the ground of his work on scientific principles applied to
the breeding of plants.' |
| 1922 |
Punnett, Reginald C.Reginald C.
Punnett |
'For his researches in the science of genetics.' |
| 1924 |
Hunt Morgan, ThomasThomas Hunt
Morgan |
'For his valuable work in zoology and more especially his
researches on heredity and cytology.' |
| 1926 |
Scott, Dukinfield HenryDukinfield Henry
Scott |
'For his contributions to palaeophytology, particularly in
relation to the period of coal.' |
| 1928 |
Cockayne, LeonardLeonard Cockayne |
'For the eminence of his contributions to ecological
botany.' |
| 1930 |
Schmidt, JohannesJohannes
Schmidt |
'For his work on extended oceanographical expeditions; and for
his genetic studies in animals and plants.' |
| 1932 |
Erich Correns, CarlCarl Erich
Correns |
'As one of the three independent discoverers of Mendels
publications; and for his distinguished researches in
genetics.' |
| 1934 |
Seward, Albert CharlesAlbert Charles
Seward |
'In recognition of his work as a palaeobotanist.' |
| 1936 |
Johnson Allen, EdgarEdgar Johnson
Allen |
'In recognition of his long continued work for the advancement
of marine biology, not only by his own researches but by the great
influence he has exerted on very numerous investigations at
Plymouth.' |
| 1938 |
Orpen Bower, FrederickFrederick Orpen
Bower |
'In recognition of his work of acknowledged distinction in the
field in which Darwin himself laboured.' |
| 1940 |
Hill, James PeterJames Peter Hill |
'For his contributions to the solution of problems bearing on
the inter-relationships of the main groups of the Mammalia and on
the phylogenetic history of the primates, a subject with which
Charles Darwin himself was much concerned.' |
| 1942 |
Watson, D. M. S.D. M. S. Watson |
'In recognition of his researches on primitive fishes and
amphibians which have much advanced the knowledge of the evolution
of these groups of animals.' |
| 1944 |
Gardiner, John StanleyJohn Stanley
Gardiner |
'In recognition of his work on coral reefs and on the organisms
associated with such habitats.' |
| 1946 |
Thompson, D’ArcyD’Arcy
Thompson |
'In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the
development of biology.' |
| 1948 |
Fisher, RonaldRonald Fisher |
'In recognition of his distinguished contributions to the
theory of natural selection, the concept of its gene complex and
the evolution of dominance.' |
| 1950 |
Fritsch, Felix EugenFelix Eugen
Fritsch |
'For his distinguished contributions to the study of
algology.' |
| 1952 |
Haldane, J.B.S.J.B.S.
Haldane |
'In recognition of his initiation of the modern phase of the
study of the evolution of living populations.' |
| 1954 |
Ford, E.B.E.B.
Ford |
'In recognition of his distinguished contributions to the
genetical theory of evolution by natural selection, particularly in
natural populations.' |
| 1956 |
Sorell Huxley, JulianJulian Sorell
Huxley |
'In recognition of his distinguished contributions to the study
and theory of evolution.' |
| 1958 |
Beer, Gavin deGavin de Beer |
'In recognition of his distinguished contributions to
evolutionary biology.' |
| 1960 |
Corner, E. J. H.E. J. H. Corner |
'In recognition of his distinguished and strikingly original
botanical work in tropical forests.' |
| 1962 |
Gaylord Simpson, GeorgeGeorge Gaylord
Simpson |
'In recognition of his distinguished contributions to general
evolutionary theory, based on a profound study of palaeontology,
particularly of vertebrates.' |
| 1964 |
Mather, KennethKenneth Mather |
'In recognition of his distinguished contributions to knowledge
of cytology and genetics.' |
| 1966 |
Munro Fox, HaroldHarold Munro Fox |
'In recognition of his distinguished and extensive
contributions in the field of invertebrate zoology and to our
understanding of general biological phenomena.' |
| 1968 |
Yonge, MauriceMaurice Yonge |
'In recognition of his many distinguished contributions to
evolutionary biology, particularly of the mollusca.' |
| 1970 |
Sutherland Elton,
CharlesCharles Sutherland
Elton |
'In recognition of the basic concepts he has contributed to the
study of animal ecology which, with his foundation of the Bureau of
Animal Population, have had international impact.' |
| 1972 |
Lack, DavidDavid Lack |
'In recognition of his distinguished and numerous contributions
to ornithology and to our understanding of evolutionary
mechanisms.' |
| 1974 |
Sheppard, PhilipPhilip Sheppard |
'In recognition of his outstanding work on natural populations
of butterflies, describing and explaining the operation of natural
selection and demonstrating the genetic basis upon which selection
operates.' |
| 1976 |
Auerbach, CharlotteCharlotte
Auerbach |
'In recognition of her discovery of and continuing work on
chemical mutagenesis.' |
| 1978 |
Pontecorvo, GuidoGuido Pontecorvo |
'In recognition of his discovery of somatic recombination in
fungi which led to the elucidation of an important type of genetic
variation.' |
| 1980 |
Wright, SewallSewall Wright |
'In recognition of his outstanding contributions to genetics
and evolutionary theory.' |
| 1982 |
Heslop-Harrison, JackJack Heslop-Harrison
and Yolande Heslop-Harrison |
'In recognition of their major contributions to plant
physiology including fundamental studies on insectivorous plants,
much of this research carried out jointly.' |
| 1984 |
Mayr, ErnstErnst
Mayr |
'In recognition of his distinguished contributions to
evolutionary biology. |
| 1986 |
Maynard Smith, JohnJohn Maynard
Smith |
'In recognition of his outstanding success in combining
mathematics with biology to enhance our understanding of evolution,
in particular the evolution of sex.' |
| 1988 |
Hamilton, W.D.W.D.
Hamilton |
'In recognition of his distinguished work on evolutionary
theory. His contributions include the theory of kin selction [sic]
to account for altruistic behaviour and the theoretical
demonstration of a link between disease resistance and the
evolution of sex.' |
| 1990 |
Harper, JohnJohn Harper |
'For his research on the population biology and evolution of
plants which has greatly improved understanding of the adaptation
of plants to their environment.' |
| 1992 |
Kimura, MotooMotoo Kimura |
'Distinguished for his work on molecular evolution, in
particular on the role of stochastic events in determining the rate
of evolution.' |
| 1994 |
Lawrence, PeterPeter
Lawrence |
'In recognition of his analysis of pattern formation during
insect segmentation, and of his contribution to understanding how
genetic processes specify spatial information.' |
| 1996 |
Sulston, JohnJohn
Sulston |
'In recognition of his leadership in the study of genome
analysis with the potential to have a profound impact on the whole
of biology.' |
| 1998 |
Gale, MichaelMichael Gale and Graham Moore |
'In recognition of their work on cereal genome organization and
evolution which has revolutionized cereal genetics by showing that
the genetics of all the different cereals can be considered in a
common framework.' |
| 2000 |
Charlesworth, BrianBrian
Charlesworth |
'In recognition of his distinguished work on selection in
age-structured populations, extending the theory to the evolution
of ageing, and testing the theories of mutation accumulation and
pleiotropy, developing models for the evolution of genetic systems,
including sex and recombination, inbreeding and outbreeding,
separate sexes and sex chromosomes, segregation distortion and
repetitive DNA.' |
| 2002 |
Grant, Peter and
RosemaryPeter and Rosemary
Grant |
'for their fundamental work on the ecology, breeding and
evolution of Darwins finches on the Galapagos islands. This work
has become the classic example of Darwinian evolution in the
wild.' |
| 2004 |
Coen, EnricoEnrico Coen and
Rosemary Carpenter |
'for their ground-breaking discoveries about the control of
flower development. They have combined molecular and genetic
approaches to answer some of Darwins key questions about the
natural variation of floral form and the evolution of floral
development.' |
| 2006 |
Barton, NickNick Barton |
'for his major and extensive contributions to evolutionary
biology, characterised by the application of sophisticated
mathematical analysis but focussed on developing biological
understanding rather than mathematical niceties.' |
| 2008 |
Parker, GeoffGeoff Parker |
'for his lifetime contribution to the foundations and
development of behavioural ecology, in particular for understanding
evolutionary adaptations and their consequences for natural
populations.' |