author
Geoffrey Smith
1881–1916
A gifted English zoologist and naturalist, he wrote with the excitement of someone seeing the living world up close. His career was cut short by World War I, but his books still carry his sharp eye for animals and field observation.
1 Audiobook
The Cambridge natural history, Vol. 04 (of 10)
by Geoffrey Smith, D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, Cecil Warburton, Walter Frank Raphael Weldon, Henry Woods
About the author
Born in Beckenham, Kent, on December 9, 1881, Geoffrey Watkins Smith studied at Winchester College and then at New College, Oxford, where he earned a First in Natural Science and later became a fellow and tutor. He also lectured in zoology and comparative anatomy at Oxford, building an early reputation as a brilliant young zoologist.
His research focused on invertebrate life, and he traveled widely for scientific work, including time in Naples and a major visit to Tasmania in 1907. That trip led to A Naturalist in Tasmania (1909), a lively book that blends close scientific observation with a real sense of discovery in the field. Contemporary notices and later archives describe him as a remarkably accomplished scientist whose published work, though produced over a short span, was both substantial and influential.
When the First World War began, Smith took a commission in the Rifle Brigade. He served in France and was killed in action on July 10, 1916, during fighting on the Somme, at the age of thirty-four. His life joined serious scholarship, adventurous travel, and military service, which gives his writing an unusual mix of precision, energy, and poignancy.