Some Biogeographers, Evolutionists and Ecologists:
Chrono-Biographical Sketches



Newbigin, Marion Isabel (Scotland 1869-1934)
geography, biology

Newbigin distinguished herself after the turn of the century by involving herself in a succession of subjects extending to practically the entire breadth of the field of geography. These studies led to a parallel succession of books written in a style that provided both a readable review and analysis of each topic. It should thus not be surprising that Newbigin was also a highly effective editor of a generalist serial title, the Scottish Geographical Magazine, for over thirty years. Newbigin's early studies focused on biology rather than geography; she was an assistant to J. Arthur Thomson during her student days at Edinburgh (and much later succeeded him at the medical college there), and later worked on the natural history collections brought back by the Challenger expedition. Among her contributions to the early development of the field of geography was to demonstrate the relation of biology--and the scientific method--to the subject, for example through her influential book Animal Geography in 1913.

Life Chronology

--born in Alnwick, Northumberland, Scotland, in 1869.
--early 1890s: student in Edinburgh
--1893: B.S., University of London
--1898: D.Sc., University of London
--1898: publishes her Colour in Nature
--1901: publishes her Life by the Seashore
--1902-1934: editor, Scottish Geographical Magazine
--1913: publishes her Animal Geography
--1916: elected a member of the Royal Geographical Society
--1921: receives the Back award from the Royal Geographical Society
--1922: president, geographical section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science; publishes her Frequented Ways
--1923: receives the Livingstone gold medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society
--1924: publishes her The Mediterranean Lands
--1932: publishes her Southern Europe: A Regional and Economic Geography
--dies at Edinburgh, Scotland, on 20 July 1934.
--1936: posthumously publishes her Plant and Animal Geography

For Additional Information, See:

--Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. 40 (2004).
--The Geographical Journal, Vol. 84(4) (1934): 367.
--Scottish Geographical Magazine, Vol. 113(1) (1997): 33-41.


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Copyright 2005 by Charles H. Smith. All rights reserved.
http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/chronob/NEWB1869.htm

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