George Shaw.

George Shaw (December 10, 1751 - July 22, 1813) was an English botanist and zoologist. Download high resolution version (703x924, 68 KB) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Download high resolution version (703x924, 68 KB) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... December 10 is the 344th day (345th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, 21 days before the next year. ... Events Adam Smith is appointed professor of logic at the University of Glasgow March 25 - For the last time, New Years Day is legally on March 25 in England and Wales. ... July 22 is the 203rd day (204th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 162 days remaining. ... 1813 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Botany is the scientific study of plant life. ... Zoology (Greek zoon = animal and logos = word) is the biological discipline which involves the study of animals. ...

Shaw was born at Bierton, Buckinghamshire and was educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, receiving his M.A. in 1772. He took up the profession of medical practitioner. In 1786 he became the assistant lecturer in botany at Oxford University. He was a co-founder of the Linnean Society in 1788, and became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1789. Bierton is a village in Buckinghamshire, England, about half a mile north of the town of Aylesbury. ... Buckinghamshire (abbreviated Bucks) is one of the home counties in South East England. ... Magdalen College (pronounced maudlin) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... The Linnean Society of London is the worlds premier society for the study and dissemination about taxonomy. ... The premises of the Royal Society in London (first four properties only). ...

In 1791 Shaw became assistant keeper of the natural history department at the British Museum, succeeding Edward Whitaker Gray as keeper in 1806. He found that most of the items donated to the museum by Hans Sloane were in very bad condition. Medical and anatomical material was sent to the museum at the Royal College of Surgeons, but many of the stuffed animals and birds had deteriorated and had to be burnt. The pay from the museum was so poor that Shaw had to spend much of his time writing, and thus neglected the upkeep of the collection. He was succeeded after his death by his assistant Charles Konig. The centre of the museum was redeveloped in 2000 to become the Great Court, with a tessellated glass roof by Buro Happold and Foster and Partners surrounding the original Reading Room. ... Hans Sloane. ... The Royal College of Surgeons of England is an independent professional body committed to promoting and advancing the highest standards of surgical care for patients. ... Charles Konig (1774 - 1851) was a German naturalist. ...

Shaw published one of the first English descriptions with scientific names of several of the common Australian animals in his "Zoology of New Holland" (1794). He was among the first scientists to examine a platypus and published the first scientific description of it in The Naturalist's Miscellany in 1799. Map of a part of New Holland made by William Dampier in 1699 New Holland is a historic name for the island continent of Australia. ... 1794 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Binomial name Ornithorhynchus anatinus (Shaw, 1799) Platypus range (indicated by darker shading)[3] The Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is a semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia and Tasmania. ... 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

His other publications included:

• Museum Leverianum, containing select specimens from the museum of the late Sir Ashton Lever (1792-6)
• General Zoology, or Systematic Natural History (16 vol.) (1809-1826) (volumes IX to XVI by James Francis Stephens)
• The Naturalist's Miscellany: Or, Coloured Figures Of Natural Objects; Drawn and Described Immediately From Nature (1789-1813) with Frederick Polydore Nodder (artist and engraver).

The standard botanical author abbreviation G.Shaw is applied to species he described. Sir Ashton Lever (March 5, 1729 - January 28, 1788) was an English collector of natural objects. ... 1792 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1796 was a leap year starting on Friday. ... 1809 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The oldest surviving photograph, Nicéphore Niépce, circa 1826 1826 (MDCCCXXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... James Francis Stephens (September 16, 1792 - December 22, 1852) was an English zoologist. ... 1789 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1813 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Frederick Polydore Nodder (fl. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ...

References

• Mullens and Swann - A Bibliography of British Ornithology (1917)
• William T. Stearn - The Natural History Museum at South Kensington ISBN 0434736007