Arthur Roy Clapham

Arthur Roy Clapham
Born	(1904-05-24)24 May 1904 Norwich,United Kingdom
Died	18 December 1990(1990-12-18)(aged 86)
Alma mater	Downing College, Cambridge
Known for	Coined the termecosystem Vice chancellorSheffield University
Spouse	Brenda North Stoessiger
Awards	Linnean Medal(1972)
Scientific career
Fields	Botany,Plant physiology
Institutions	Rothamsted Experimental Station;University of Oxford;University of Sheffield
Author abbrev. (botany)	A.R.Clapham

Arthur Roy ClaphamCBE,FRS(24 May 1904 – 18 December 1990), was a British botanist.Born in Norwich and educated atDowning College, Cambridge,Clapham worked atRothamsted Experimental Stationas a crop physiologist (1928–30), and then took a teaching post in the botany department at Oxford University. He was Professor of Botany atSheffield University1944–69 and vice chancellor of the university during the 1960s. He coauthored theFlora of the British Isles,which was the first, and for several decades the only, comprehensive flora of the British Isles published in 1952 and followed by new editions in 1962 and 1987.In response to a request fromArthur Tansley,he coined the termecosystemin the early 1930s.

Early life and education

Clapham was born inNorwichto George Clapham, an elementary school teacher and Dora Margaret Clapham,néeHarvey. He was the oldest of three children and the only boy. He attended theCity of Norwich School,where he sat the CambridgeSenior School Certificatein 1919 andHigher School Certificatein 1921. Clapham attendedDowning College, Cambridgein 1922 after receiving a Minor Scholarship. He received a BA withFirst Class Honoursand was awarded the Frank Smart Prize for Botany.

After completing his B.A., Clapham did graduate work inplant physiologyunder the supervision ofFrederick Blackmanbefore taking up a position as crop physiologist at theRothamsted Agricultural Experimental Stationwhere he worked withRonald Fisher.Influenced by Fisher's work onstatistical analysisandrandom sampling,Clapham worked on using small samples to reliably estimate wheat yields and designed the Ministry of Agriculture's protocol of sampling wheat crops to forecast crop yields.It was during this time period that he met his future wife, Brenda Stoessiger who was a research student working withKarl Pearson,a pioneer ofmathematical statistics.Years later,Donald Pigott,thenDirector, Cambridge University Botanic Garden,wrote (for Clapham's obituary in theJournal of Ecology) that it was probably through his connection to Fisher that Clapham met Stoessiger.Clapham received a PhD from Cambridge in 1929 based on his work with Blackman in physiology and his work onsampling methodsat Rothamsted.

Professional career

In 1930 Clapham was appointed a Demonstrator in Botany at theUniversity of Oxford.At Oxford he worked closely with Arthur Tansley. In 1944 he left Oxford to take up the position of Chair of Botany at theUniversity of Sheffieldwhere he remained until his retirement in 1969. At Sheffield he served asPro-Vice-Chancellorfrom 1954 to 1958 and as Acting Vice-Chancellor in 1956.

Clapham served as the President of theBritish Ecological Societyfrom 1954 to 1956, and President of theLinnean Societyfrom 1967 to 1970.

Awards and honours

Clapham was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1949 and aFellow of the Royal Societyin 1959. Clapham received theLinnean Medalin 1972, and was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empirein 1969. In 1970 he received honorary doctorates from theUniversity of Aberdeenand theUniversity of Sheffield.

Personal life

Clapham married Brenda North Stoessiger in 1933. Their first child, John, died at the age of 13 months in 1935. Clapham and his wife had three other children – daughters Elizabeth and Jennifer, born in 1935 and 1937 respectively, and a son, David, born in 1944. Brenda Clapham died in 1985.After her death, Clapham's health worsened. He died in 1990.

Major contributions

Initially trained in plant physiology, Clapham's contributions included work onsampling design,forecasting crop yields, ecology,plant systematicsandpalaeoecology.Clapham contributed to Tansley'sThe British islands and their vegetation,published in 1939, and a series of volumes on the vegetation of Germany for theNaval Intelligence Divisionduring World War II. Beginning in 1940, Clapham took a lead role in the production of the ongoingBiological Flora of the British Isles.In 1953, in conjunction withT.G. TutinandE. F. Warburghe published theFlora of the British Isles(followed by two later editions in 1962 and 1987) and in 1959, theExcursion Flora of the British Isles.In 1969 he edited and helped publish theFlora of Derbyshire.

Books

• (with W.O. James) The biology of flowers. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1935.
• (withT.G. TutinandE. F. Warburg), Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (first edition 1952, second edition 1962 and third edition 1987 with Warburg replaced by D.M. Moore).
• (with T.G. Tutin and E.F. Warburg) Excursion flora of the British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1959.
• Flora of Derbyshire.Derby Museum and Art Gallery.1969.
• The Oxford book of trees, (illustrations by B.E. Nicholson). London: Oxford University Press, 1975.

External links

• Clapham papers,at Sheffield University
• Royal Society certificate of election