Richard Owen

Born in Lancaster, England, in 1804, Richard Owen trained in medicine before becoming one of the 19th century’s leading comparative anatomists and paleontologists. He built his reputation through extraordinary skill in interpreting bones and fossils, and he became a major scientific figure in Britain.

Owen is most famous for introducing the name Dinosauria in 1842, grouping together several giant extinct reptiles in a way that changed popular and scientific thinking alike. His research ranged widely across living and extinct animals, and he was admired for the breadth of his knowledge even by those who disagreed with him.

He was also closely connected with the creation of the Natural History Museum in London, serving as its first superintendent and helping establish it as a public home for the study of the natural world. Though his career was marked by sharp disputes and a complicated reputation, his influence on anatomy, paleontology, and museum history was enormous.