C.D. Warner, et al., comp. The Library of the World’s Best Literature.
An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.

Critical and Biographical Introduction

By Sir John Lubbock (1834–1913)

SIR JOHN LUBBOCK (Lord Avebury) is best known as a popularizer of science. He was born in London, April 20th, 1834, and was for a time a student at Eton; but entered his father’s bank at the early age of fourteen, and therefore had opportunity for very limited schooling. During all his busy life he has been much interested in botany, zoölogy, and allied branches of natural history; and he has done much to develop public interest in these branches of science, by publishing the results of personal investigation, and by throwing into popular form the results of the work of others. He also took an active interest in a wide range of public affairs, was a member of both Houses of Parliament and of various educational boards, president of the Royal Society and of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of many other learned bodies.

Among his many volumes are ‘Prehistoric Times, as Illustrated by Ancient Remains and the Manners and Customs of Modern Savages’; ‘The Origin of Civilization and the Primitive Condition of Man’; ‘The Origin and Metamorphosis of Insects’; ‘Ants, Bees, and Wasps’; ‘On the Senses, Instincts, and Intelligence of Animals, with Special Reference to Insects’; ‘On British Wild-Flowers Considered in Relation to Insects’; ‘Flowers, Fruits, and Leaves’; ‘The Pleasures of Life’; ‘The Beauties of Nature’; and ‘The Use of Life.’

Sir John Lubbock was elevated to the peerage in 1900 as Lord Avebury, but it was long before the British public became accustomed to his new title. He continued his beneficent activity as a popularizer of science until his death in 1913. His later works were ‘The Scenery of England’ (1901); ‘Notes on the Life History of the British Flowering Plants’ (1905); ‘Peace and Happiness’ (1909); ‘Marriage, Totemism, and Religion’ (1911).

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