John Ray
- Born
- 29 November 1627
- Died
- 17 January 1705 (age 77)
John Ray was a naturalist who made a significant contribution to taxonomy. He laid the foundations for modern botany and zoology, and was first to use the terms petal and pollen. The taxonomical system he developed along with naturalist Francis Willughby forms the basis for the current classification of plants and animals.
Ray came from fairly humble beginnings. His father was a blacksmith and his mother was a herbalist and healer. He may have gained his love of plants from her. Through the support of the local vicar, who saw how bright Ray was, he was sent up to Cambridge in 1644.
After graduating, Ray was made a Fellow of Trinity College and spent the next 13 years in Cambridge. This tenure ended during the Restoration. Ray was an ordained Anglican and a Puritan, and he refused to take an oath that called for reform of the church. This led to him losing his fellowship at Cambridge in 1662. He was supported by some of his wealthy friends for the rest of his life.
The father of natural history in Britain
Ray’s first book, on the plants around Cambridge, was published in 1660. He then teamed up with Francis Willughby and the two travelled to Wales and Cornwall. They undertook a complete study of the natural history of living things. Ray focused on plants, and Willughby on animals.
Following their travels across Britain, the two men toured Europe for three years, during which time Ray extended his knowledge of flora and fauna. Willughby died suddenly in 1672 but Ray continued with their work.
Throughout this time, Ray had continued to research botany. In 1682, he published his contribution to classification, Methodus Plantarum Nova. This book, for the first time, recognised the difference between monocotyledons (plants that germinate with one leaf) and dicotyledons (plants that germinate with two leaves).
This book was followed by the three-volume Historia Plantarum, published between 1686 and 1704. This categorised thousands of plants, and covered plant structures, physiology and anatomy, plants’ habitats and medicinal uses.
Ray was searching for a natural system that would reflect Divine Order of creation. He also published books on plants, birds, mammals, fish and insects, as well as producing a number of theological works. He established the class Mamalia (mammals) and classified insects according to whether or not they went through metamorphosis.
Ray had a great influence on later biologists. His system of classification influenced botanists such as Jussieu and de Candolle. His use of total morphology to classify organisms was later used by evolutionary biologists who investigated evolutionary relationships. He paved the way for the work of Carl Linnaeus in the following century.
Ray was a Fellow of the Royal Society. Founded in 1844, The Ray Society, was set up to honour his memory and continues to publish books on natural history today.