Louis Compton Miall

Louis Compton Miall FRS (12 September 1842, Bradford – 21 February 1921, Leeds) was an English palaeontologist and biologist who was Professor of Biology at the University of Leeds.

Early life

In 1857 Miall, under the direction of his father, kept a small day-school, teaching younger students. He independently studied zoology and geology, joined a botanical society at Todmorden, and published papers in various journals.

Academic career

From 1871 to 1892 Miall was curator of the museum of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society. From 1876 to 1904 he was Professor of Biology at the Yorkshire College. After the Yorkshire College became the University of Leeds in 1904, Miall continued in the same role until he retired in 1907. He was succeeded by both V H Blackman, FRS (as professor of botany) and Walter Garstang (as professor of zoology).

In 1892 Miall was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). From 1904 to 1906 he was Fullerian Professor of Physiology at the Royal Institution. At the annual meetings of the British Association he presided over the zoological section in 1897 and the education section in 1908.

Remembering Miall at Leeds around the 1890s, C. M. Gillespie wrote that

in academic policy, as in matters generally, Miall stood for caution: he always spoke slowly, giving the impression that he weighed each word carefully as he uttered it. His primary interest was in teaching and its correlative, learning. He held to the naturalist's doctrine that you learn by direct observation and experiment, and not by listening to others [...] Miall was an ideal lecturer, clear, confident and methodical.

Personal life

Miall married in 1870 and his wife died in 1918. There were three children from the marriage.

Death

Miall died in Leeds in 1921, aged 78.

Selected publications

• with Frederick Greenwood (1827–1915): Anatomy of the Indian elephant. Studies in comparative anatomy ;no.2. Macmillan. 1878.
• The skull of the crocodile: a manual for students. Studies in comparative anatomy ;no. 1. Macmillan. 1878.
• The geology, natural history and pre-historic antiquities of Craven in Yorkshire. J. Dodgson. 1878.
• with Thomas Edward Thorpe, Alexander Henry Green, Arthur William Rücker and Alfred Marshall: Green, Alexander Henry; Miall, Louis Compton; Marshall, Alfred (1878). Coal its history and uses.
• The life and work of Charles Darwin. R. Jackson. 1883.
• with Alfred Denny: The structure and life history of the cockroach (Periplaneta orientalis). 1886.
• Object lessons from nature. 1891; several editions{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
• Natural history of aquatic insects. Macmillan and co., limited; The Macmillan company. 1895.
• Round the year: a series of short nature studies. Macmillan. 1896.
• Thirty years of teaching. Macmillan. 1897.
• with A. R. Hammond: The structure and life-history of the harlequin fly (Chironomus). Clarendon Press. 1900.
• Injurious and useful insects: an introduction to the study of economic entomology. Bell's science series. G. Bell & Sons. 1902.
• House, garden and field: a collection of short nature studies. Edward Arnold. 1904; with illustrations by A. R. Hammond{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
• History of biology. A History of the sciences. G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1911.
• The early naturalists: their lives and work (1530–1789). Macmillan. 1912.

External links

• Works by Louis Compton Miall at Project Gutenberg
• Works by Louis Compton Miall at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Archival Material at Leeds University Library