Zuckerman of Burnham Thorpe, Solly Zuckerman

▪ 1994

      BARON, British scientist (b. May 30, 1904, Cape Town, South Africa—d. April 1, 1993, London, England), made an improbable transition from his beginnings as a research anatomist with the London Zoological Society (1928-32) to being a trusted scientific adviser and military strategist with the British Defense Ministry (1939-46; 1960-66) and finally to his position as chief scientific adviser to the British government (1964-71). Zuckerman matriculated at the University of Cape Town and University College Hospital, London, eventually receiving doctorates in science and medicine. At the Zoological Society he studied primate physiology and wrote his groundbreaking first books, The Social Life of Monkeys and Apes (1931) and Functional Affinities of Man, Monkeys, and Apes (1933). In 1934 he switched his focus to human anatomy, which he taught at the Universities of Oxford (1934-45), Birmingham (1946-68), and East Anglia (1969-74). During World War II, Zuckerman was called on to determine the effects on the body of the shock waves from bomb blasts. He quickly became an invaluable government adviser, with strong views on everything from saturation bombing (which he opposed) to nuclear disarmament (which he endorsed) to environmental pollution. These diverse interests were reflected in his later books, notably Scientists and War (1966) and Great Zoos of the World (1980), and in his two volumes of memoirs, From Apes to Warlords (1978) and Monkeys, Men, and Missiles (1988). Zuckerman remained with the Zoological Society throughout his career, serving as secretary (1955-77) and president (1977-84). He was knighted in 1964, awarded the Order of Merit in 1968, and elevated to a life peerage in 1971, shortly after he retired from public service.

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