George Shaw 596602 211640971 2008-05-11T11:26:07Z Plindenbaum 2796168 infobox {{otheruses}} {{Infobox Scientist |name = George Shaw |box_width = |image =George_Kearsley_Shaw.jpg |image_width =150px |caption = George Shaw |birth_date = [[December 10]], [[1751]] |birth_place = [[Bierton]], [[Buckinghamshire]] |death_date = [[July 22]], [[1813]] |death_place = |residence = |citizenship = |nationality = [[England|English]] |ethnicity = |field = [[botany]] |work_institutions = [[Oxford University]] |alma_mater = |doctoral_advisor = |doctoral_students = |known_for = |author_abbrev_bot = |author_abbrev_zoo = |influences = |influenced = |prizes = |religion = |footnotes = |signature = }} '''George Shaw''' ([[December 10]], [[1751]] - [[July 22]], [[1813]]) was an [[England|English]] [[botanist]] and [[zoologist]]. 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. 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 of England|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]]. Shaw published one of the first English descriptions with scientific names of several of the common Australian animals in his "Zoology of [[New Holland (Australia)|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]]. His other publications included: *''Museum Leverianum'', containing select specimens from the museum of the late Sir [[Ashton Lever]] ([[1792]]-[[1796|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 [[Binomial nomenclature#Authorship in scientific names|botanical author abbreviation]] '''G.Shaw''' is applied to [[species]] he described. ==References== *Mullens and Swann - ''A Bibliography of British Ornithology'' (1917) *William T. Stearn - ''The Natural History Museum at South Kensington'' ISBN 0434736007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, George}} [[Category:1751 births]] [[Category:1813 deaths]] [[Category:English botanists]] [[Category:Botanists with author abbreviations|Shaw, George]] [[Category:British mammalogists|Shaw, George]] [[Category:English zoologists|Shaw, George]] [[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society|Shaw, George]] [[Category:Members of the Linnean Society of London|Shaw]] {{botanist-stub}} {{zoologist-stub}} {{UK-scientist-stub}} [[de:George Shaw]] [[es:George Shaw]] [[fr:George Kearsley Shaw]] [[id:George Shaw]] [[it:George Shaw]] [[la:Georgius Shaw]] [[pl:George Shaw]] [[pt:George Kearsley Shaw]] [[sr:Џорџ Шо]] [[fi:George Shaw]] [[tr:George Shaw]]