author
E. W. (Ernest William) MacBride
1866–1940
A pioneering marine biologist and embryologist, he was known both for careful work on sea animals and for his outspoken defense of Lamarckian evolution long after most scientists had moved on. His career linked laboratory research, university teaching, and lively public debate about how life changes over time.
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About the author
Born in Belfast in 1866, Ernest William MacBride studied at Queen's College, Belfast, and St John's College, Cambridge. He went on to build a career as a zoologist and marine biologist, with important work in embryology and the study of marine invertebrates.
MacBride became especially associated with research on development and evolution, and he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. He taught at Imperial College London and remained a well-known scientific voice in Britain.
He is often remembered today as one of the last prominent defenders of Lamarckian evolution — the idea that acquired characteristics could be inherited. Whether readers meet him through his scientific papers or his books on zoology, heredity, and evolution, he stands out as a vivid example of a scholar willing to argue strongly for views he believed were right.