What is Gavin de Beer?
Sir '''Gavin Rylands de Beer''' [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] (1899–1972) was a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[evolution]]ary [[embryology|embryologist]]. He was Director of the London [[Natural History Museum]], President of the Linnean Society, and received the [[Royal Society]]'s Darwin Medal for his studies on evolution. In the [[First World War]] he served in the [[Grenadier Guards]]. Later, he taught at [[Oxford University]] [[zoology]] department. In 1938, he was made Reader in Embryology at [[University College London]]. During the Second World War de Beer again served with the Grenadier Guards reaching the rank of temporary lieutenant [[colonel]].<ref>[http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.aspx?pdf=37521&geotype=London&gpn=1690&type=ArchivedSupplementPage&all=G&exact=de beer&atleast=&similar= London Gazette 1946]{{Dead link|date=September 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He worked in military intelligence, [[propaganda]] and psychological warfare. Also during the war, in 1940, he was elected [[Fellow of the Royal Society]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/page.asp?id=1727|title=Lists of Royal Society Fellows 1660-2004|accessdate=3 April 2006|archive-date=22 January 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070122204215/http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/page.asp?id=1727|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1945, de Beer became Professor of Zoology and was, from 1946 to 1949, President of the [[Linnean Society]]. Then he was Director of the British Museum (Natural History)<ref>as the Natural History Museum was called at the time: Gunther, Albert 1981. ''The founders of science at the British Museum, 1753-1900''.</ref> from 1950 until his retirement in 1960. He was [[knight]]ed in 1954, and awarded the [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]] Medal of the Royal Society in 1957. == Books == de Beer wrote 25 books, of which these are still noteworthy: *''An introduction to experimental embryology'' — 1926 *''Early travellers in the [[Alps]]'' — 1930 *''[[Embryology]] and [[evolution]]'' — 1