View source for Charles Wyville Thomson

{{Short description|Scottish natural historian and marine zoologist; pioneer of oceanography}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix = Sir
| name = Charles Wyville Thomson
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRSE|FRS|FLS|FGS|FZS|size=100}}
| image = File:FMIB 36374 Sir Wyville Thomson (cropped).jpeg
| image_upright = 1.2
| alt = Black and white portrait photograph of Sir Charles Wyville Thomson taken in 2934. He is smartly dressed and has a beard.
| caption = Undated photograph of Thomson
| birth_name = Wyville Thomas Charles Thomson
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1830|03|05}}
| birth_place = [[Linlithgow]], Scotland<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web |title=Sir C. Wyville Thomson |date=2002 |url=http://www.britannica.com/biography/C-Wyville-Thomson |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=6 September 2015}}</ref>
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1882|03|10|1830|03|05|df=yes}}
| death_place = Linlithgow, Scotland
| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} -->
| residence = 
| citizenship = 
| nationality = Scottish
| fields = Marine zoology
| workplaces = {{ubli|indent=1em|[[University of Aberdeen]]<ref name="Britannica" /> {{nowrap|(1850–1851)}}|[[Marischal College]]<ref name="Britannica" /> {{nowrap|(1851–1852)}}|[[Queen's College, Cork]]|[[Queen's University of Belfast]]}}
| alma_mater = {{ubl|[[Merchiston Castle School]]<ref name="Britannica" />|[[University of Edinburgh]]<ref name="Britannica" />}}
| known_for = [[Challenger expedition|''Challenger'' expedition]]
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| influences = 
| influenced = 
| awards = {{ubli|indent=1em|[[Royal Medal]] (1876)|[[Order of the Polar Star|Knight of the Order of the Polar Star]] (Sweden, 1877)<ref name="ODNB">{{cite ODNB |last=Rice |first=A. L. |title=Thomson, Sir Charles Wyville (1830–1882) |date=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/27295 |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-27295}}</ref>}}
| spouse = 
}}
[[File:Charles Wyville Thomson by John Hutchison.jpg|thumb|upright|Bust of Thomson by [[John Hutchison (sculptor)|John Hutchison]]]]
'''Sir Charles Wyville Thomson''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRSE|FRS|FLS|FGS|FZS}} (5 March 1830 – 10 March 1882) was a Scottish [[natural history|natural historian]] and [[marine zoology|marine zoologist]]. He served as the chief scientist on the [[Challenger expedition|''Challenger'' expedition]]; his work there revolutionized [[oceanography]] and led to his being knighted.

==Life==
Thomson was born at [[Bonsyde]], in [[Linlithgow]], West Lothian, on 5 March 1830, the son of Andrew Thomson, a surgeon in the service of the [[East India Company]], and his wife Sarah Ann Drummond Smith. He was baptised '''Wyville Thomas Charles Thomson''', but changed his name formally upon being knighted in 1876.<ref name="Waterston2">{{cite book |last1=Waterston |first1=C. D. |last2=Macmillan Shearer |first2=A. |title=Biographical Index of the Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1783–2002 |url=http://www.rse.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf |access-date=3 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422220915/http://www.rse.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf |archive-date=22 April 2012 |url-status=dead |volume=II |page=923 (in work p. 435) |date=July 2006 |publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh |isbn=978-0-90219-884-5}}</ref><ref name="ODNB" />

He was educated under Charles Chalmers at [[Merchiston Castle School]], then from 1845 studied medicine at the [[University of Edinburgh]] graduating with an [[Doctor of Medicine|MD]]. However, his focus turned from medicine to natural science, and he joined the [[Botanical Society of Edinburgh]] in 1847, and soon after became secretary to the [[Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh]]. In 1850 he was attending the botany class of [[John Hutton Balfour]] at the university.

In 1850 he was appointed lecturer of botany, and in 1851 professor of [[botany]], at the [[University of Aberdeen]]. In 1853 he became a professor of [[natural history]] in [[Queen's College, Cork]], Ireland, succeeding Professor [[Hincks]]. A year later he was nominated to the chair of [[mineralogy]] and geology at the [[Queen's University Belfast|Queen's University of Belfast]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Thomson, Sir Charles Wyville|volume=26|page=871}}</ref>

In 1855 he was elected a Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]], his proposer being his former tutor, [[John Hutton Balfour]]. He served as the society's vice president from 1877 to 1882. He was elected a Fellow of the [[Royal Society of London]] in 1869.<ref name="Waterston2" />

In 1860 was transferred to the chair of natural history at the same institution. In 1868 he assumed the duties of professor of botany at the [[Royal College of Science for Ireland|Royal College of Science]], Dublin, and finally in 1870 he received the natural history chair at the University of Edinburgh.<ref name="EB1911"/> Here he taught [[Arthur Conan Doyle]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Doyle |first1=A. C. |title=Memories and Adventures |date=1924 |publisher=Little, Brown, and Company |location=Boston |page=19 |chapter=Recollections of a Student |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/memoriesadventur0000doyl/page/18/mode/2up |oclc=1367896 |quote="They were remarkable men, however, some of these professors, and we managed to know them pretty well ... There was Wyville Thomson, the zoologist, fresh from his ''Challenger'' expedition, ..."}}</ref>

In 1871–72 he served as President of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.botanical-society-scotland.org.uk/sites/default/files/%20.pdf |title=The Botanical Society of Edinburgh, 1836–1936 |date=1936 |page=15 |access-date=11 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311205404/http://www.botanical-society-scotland.org.uk/sites/default/files/%20.pdf |archive-date=11 March 2017 |url-status=dead |oclc=27215230}}</ref>

==Interests==
Thomson is remembered for his studies of the biological conditions of the [[Marine biology|deep sea]]s. Being interested in [[crinoid]]s, and prompted by the results of the [[Marine biology dredge|dredgings]] of [[Michael Sars]] in the deep sea off the [[Norway|Norwegian coasts]], he persuaded the [[Royal Navy]] to grant him use of {{HMS|Lightning|1823|6}} and {{HMS|Porcupine|1844|6}} for deep sea dredging expeditions in the summers of 1868 and 1869. They showed that animal life existed down to depths of 650 [[fathom]]s (1200 m), that all marine [[invertebrate]] groups are present at this depth, and that deep-sea temperatures are not as constant as had been supposed, but vary considerably, and indicate [[thermohaline circulation|oceanic circulation]]. These results were described in ''The Depths of the Sea'', which he published in 1873.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Challenger expedition==
{{main article|Challenger expedition}}

The remarkable [[hydrography|hydrographic]] and zoological results which Thomson had demonstrated, in addition to the growing demands of ocean [[telegraph]]y, soon led to the Royal Navy to grant use of {{HMS|Challenger|1858|6}} for a global [[Challenger expedition|expedition]]. Wyville Thomson was selected as chief scientist, and the ship sailed on 23 December 1872.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aitken |first1=F. |last2=Foulc |first2=J.-N. |title=The First Explorations of the Deep Sea by H.M.S. Challenger (1872–1876) |series=From Deep Sea to Laboratory |volume=1 |date=2019 |publisher=ISTE |location=London |isbn=978-1-78630-374-5 |doi=10.1002/9781119610953|s2cid=146750038 }}</ref>

==Aftermath==
The ''Challenger'' expedition was deemed a great success, and on his return Thomson received a number of academic honours, as well as a [[knighthood]]. In 1877 he published in two volumes ''The Voyage of the Challenger{{snd}}The Atlantic'', a preliminary account of the results of the voyage. He spent the next two years working on administrative duties connected with the publication of the full [[monograph]] of the voyage. Thomson had a highly strung mentality, and his health was generally poor throughout his life. He found dealing with publishers in the course of completing the full reports of the voyage to be enormously stressful. In 1879 he ceased to perform his university duties, gave up overseeing the reports of the expedition in 1881 (after publishing the introduction to the zoological series in 1880),<ref name="ODNB" /> then took to his bed and died a broken man at Bonsyde on 10 March 1882.<ref name="EB1911" /> Thomson's friend and colleague [[John Murray (oceanographer)|Sir John Murray]] took over the publication of the reports; they eventually spanned 50 volumes, the last of which was issued in 1895.<ref name="ODNB" />
[[Image:St_Michael's_Kirkyard_(1).JPG|thumb|right|upright|alt=The headstone of Charles Wyville Thomson.|Thomson's headstone in St. Michael's Parish Churchyard.]]
Thomson is commemorated in the stained glass window above the altar in [[St. Michael's Parish Church, Linlithgow]] and his headstone is in the churchyard. In addition the [[Wyville Thomson Ridge]] in the [[North Atlantic Ocean]] is named after him.

==Evolution==
Thomson had criticised [[natural selection]], stating it was not enough to explain the [[evolution]] of species. Replying in the ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' journal, [[Charles Darwin]] commented that "I am sorry to find that Sir Wyville Thomson does not under stand the principle of natural selection, as explained by Mr. Wallace and myself... Can Sir Wyville Thomson name any one who has said that the evolution of species depends only on natural selection?"<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Darwin |first1=C. R. |department=Letters to the Editor |title=Sir Wyville Thomson and Natural Selection |journal=Nature |date=November 1880 |volume=23 |issue=576 |page=32 |doi=10.1038/023032c0 |doi-access=free|bibcode=1880Natur..23...32D }}</ref>

==Publications==
{{Incomplete list|date=March 2023}}
*{{cite book |last1=Thomson |first1=C. W. |title=The Depths of the Sea: an Account of the General Results of the Dredging Cruises of H.M.SS. 'Porcupine' and 'Lightning' during the Summers of 1868, 1869, and 1870, under the Scientific Direction of Dr. Carpenter, F.R.S., J. Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S., and Dr. Wyville Thomson, F.R.S. |url=https://archive.org/details/depthsofseaaccou00thomrich |publisher=Macmillan and Company |place=London |year=1873 |oclc=11577765 |ol=7246945M |ol-access=free}}
*{{cite book |last1=Thomson |first1=C. W. |author-mask1=2 |title=The Voyage of the "Challenger" – The Atlantic, a Preliminary Account of the General Results of the Exploring Voyage of H.M.S. "Challenger" during the Year 1873 and the Early Part of the Year 1876 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/79255 |publisher=Macmillan and Company |place=London |year=1877 |oclc=4031714 |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.79255 |doi-access=free}}
*{{cite book |editor-last1=Thomson |editor-first1=C. W. |editor-last2=Murray |editor-first2=J. |title=Report of the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the Years 1873–1876, under the Command of Captain George S. Nares, R.N., F.R.S., and Captain Frank Tourle Thomson R.N. |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/6513 |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |year=1880–1895 |oclc=10354084 |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.6513 |doi-access=free}}

==Family==
In 1853 he married Jane Ramage Dawson. They were parents to [[Frank Wyville Thomson]] {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRSE}} (1860–1918).

== Taxon named in his honor ==
The Pallid sculpin, ''[[Cottunculus thomsonii]]'' ([[Albert Günther|Günther]], 1882) is named after him.<ref name="auto1">{{cite book |title=Marine Fishes of Arctic Canada |editor-first1=B. W. |editor-last1=Coad |editor-first2=J. D. |editor-last2=Reist |date=2018 |page=442 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-44264-710-7}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[European and American voyages of scientific exploration]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last1=Herdman |first1=W. A. |title=Founders of Oceanography and their Work: an Introduction to the Science of the Sea |date=1923 |publisher=Longmans, Green & Company |location=New York |pages=37–68 |chapter=Sir C. Wyville Thomson and the 'Challenger' Expedition |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/55296 |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.16362 |doi-access=free |oclc=690024}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*{{Internet Archive author |sname=Charles Wyville Thomson |sopt=t}}
*{{cite DNB|wstitle=Thomson, Charles Wyville}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Charles Wyville}}
[[Category:1830 births]]
[[Category:1882 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish botanists]]
[[Category:19th-century British zoologists]]
[[Category:People from Linlithgow]]
[[Category:People from West Lothian]]
[[Category:People educated at Merchiston Castle School]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Aberdeen]]
[[Category:Academics of Queens College Cork]]
[[Category:Academics of Queen's University Belfast]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Royal Medal winners]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Irish Academy]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Geological Society of London]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Linnean Society of London]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Zoological Society of London]]
[[Category:Scottish explorers]]
[[Category:Scottish geologists]]
[[Category:Scottish knights]]
[[Category:Scottish marine biologists]]
[[Category:Marine zoologists]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish medical doctors]]
[[Category:Scottish naturalists]]
[[Category:Scottish non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Scottish travel writers]]
[[Category:Scottish zoologists]]