author
Sir John Lubbock
1834–1913
A Victorian thinker with an unusually wide range, this English banker and politician also became a respected scientist, archaeologist, and writer. He helped popularize the study of prehistory and is remembered for bringing big ideas about nature and early human life to a broad audience.
3 Audiobooks
On the Origin and Metamorphoses of Insects
by Sir John Lubbock
The Pleasures of Life
by Sir John Lubbock
The Beauties of Nature, and the Wonders of the World We Live In
by Sir John Lubbock
About the author
Born in London on April 30, 1834, John Lubbock was known for many years as Sir John Lubbock and later became the 1st Baron Avebury. Alongside his work in the family bank, he built a remarkable public career as a Liberal politician, philanthropist, and scientist with interests that ranged from biology to archaeology.
He is especially remembered for his writings on prehistoric humanity and the natural world. His work helped shape popular understanding of early human history, and he is widely associated with the terms Palaeolithic and Neolithic. He also wrote about insects and other subjects in natural science, earning a reputation as one of the great Victorian polymaths.
Lubbock died on May 28, 1913, in Kent, England. More than a century later, he still stands out as a figure who moved easily between finance, politics, and science, and who had a gift for making scholarly subjects interesting to general readers.