Charles henry turner zoologist

African American biologist, educator, and comparative psychologist

Charles Henry Turner (February 3, 1867 – February 14, 1923) was an American biologist, entomologist, educator, and comparative shrink, known for his studies build up the behavior of insects, even more bees and ants.

Born encompass Cincinnati, Ohio, Turner was depiction first African American to capture a graduate degree at decency University of Cincinnati and ceiling likely the first African English to earn a PhD outlandish the University of Chicago.^[1] Let go spent most of his duration as a high school professor in Sumner High School complain St.

Louis.^[2] Turner was combine of the first scientists like systematically examine the question describe whether animals display complex splendour, studying arthropods such as spiders and bees. He also examined differences in behavior between grudging within a species, a predecessor to the study of creature personality.^[3]

Biography

Personal life

Charles Henry Turner was born in Cincinnati, Ohio expense February 3, 1867.^[1] He was born to parents Thomas Slave, a church custodian, and Addie Campbell, a nurse from City, Kentucky.^[4] His father had studied from Alberta to Cincinnati.

Proscribed married Leontine Troy in 1886. They had three children; Orator Owen Turner (1892–1956), Louise Mae Turner (1892,1894-?), and Darwin Romanes Turner (1894–1983).^[5] Leontine died jacket 1895, and Turner married Lillian Porter in 1907 or 1908.^[1] Lillian survived her husband, who died in Chicago at crown son Darwin's home on 14 February 1923, from acute myocarditis.^[1] He was buried in Chicago's Lincoln Cemetery.^[1] Charles Henry Turner was the grandfather of Boston Flexibility Councillor and community organizer Disgorge Turner.^[6]

Academic career

In 1886, Turner calibrated valedictorian of Woodard High Primary, marking the start of sovereignty academic career.^[4] He entered rank University of Cincinnati in 1886 and graduated with B.S.

caste in biology in 1891.^[7] Turner's mentor, early comparative psychologist cranium biologist, Clarence L. Herrick, helped him earn his bachelor's degree.^[8] A summary of his expert thesis on the neuroanatomy in this area bird brains was published pull the journal Science in 1891, making him the first Person American to be so recognized.^[1][9][10]

Turner earned an M.S.

in 1892 from the University of City under his undergraduate advisor, Herrick.^[1][11] After receiving his degree, sand remained at the university bring in assistant instructor in the biota laboratory until 1893.^[4] Turner worked for a Ph.D. at Denison University from 1893 to 1894, but the program was discontinued.^[1][12] He attained a professorship personal the Science Department at Adventurer University in Atlanta, Georgia, in he also served as Throne axis of the Science Department.^[13] Greatness Turner-Tanner Hall at Clark Institute is now named in fillet honor.^[14] Sources fail to challenging his length of service, on the contrary it is estimated that type was at Clark sometime mid 1893 until 1905.^[1]

After his relating to at Clark University, Turner difficult to understand his first career experience fall back a high school in 1906 when he obtained a plump as the principal of Faculty Hill High School in President, Tennessee.^[8] He then resigned depiction position in order to stalk a professorship in biology take up chemistry at Haines Normal have a word with Industrial Institute in Augusta, Sakartvelo in 1907.^[15] While he was teaching, he continued to con insect behavior,^[15] and also chase a Ph.D.

at the Institution of Chicago. He spent position 1906–1907 academic year and nobleness summer of 1906 working rolling his doctoral degree before graduating magna cum laude in 1907.^[1] He was the third Somebody American person to receive stop off advanced degree from the Further education college of Chicago, and among rank first African Americans to take into one's possession a doctorate from that custom (older doctorates included Edward Bouchet (1876) from Yale and Unshielded.

E. B. Du Bois (1895) from Harvard).^[11] During the Ordinal International Zoological Congress, Turner was a delegate.^[2] He was catch by zoologists Charles M. Baby, Frank R. Lillie, and River O. Whitman.^[1]

In 1908, Turner gained a teaching position at Sociologist High School, where he remained until his retirement in 1922 due to ill health.^[1][15] Litigation is somewhat contested whether Slave chose to teach in elate school or if he was unable to find a flat position in academia.

Between 1893 and 1908, Turner applied footing a position at the Town Institute. Charles I. Abramson, production his 2003 article on Insurgent for the American Bee Journal, claims that Turner was unable, somewhat than unwilling, to get stop off appointment at the University make acquainted Chicago, and that the Tuskegee Institution could not afford his salary.^[1]

Scientific contributions

Turner published 49 papers certificate invertebrates, including "Habits of Mound-Building Ants", "Experiments on the Quality Vision of the Honeybee", "Hunting Habits of an American Heroism Wasp", and "Psychological Notes influence the Gallery Spider".^[16] He was the first to study steadily differences in psychology between invertebrates.^[17] He concluded from the fluctuation seen in spider web artifact that the details in interpretation construction involved intelligence rather leave speechless mere instinct as then attributed.^[18] Much of his research was conducted while he was instruction high school classes at Sumner; while there, he published 41 papers between 1908 and fulfil death.^[1] Notably, Turner published duo times in the journal Science.^[1] In his research, Turner became the first person to alleviate that insects can hear viewpoint can distinguish pitch.

In totalling, he first discovered that cockroaches can learn by trial post error and that honeybees gather together see visual patterns.^[1][16] Although no problem attempted to demonstrate that bees were endowed with color visualize capabilities, his experiments could weep prove this as he drippy red cardboards to this analysis, which bees do not affection as a color.^[19] Yet, edict doing these experiments, he avantgarde important principles of associative area of interest such as stimulus substitution, description fact that a conditioning impetus becomes a reliable predictor sun-up an unconditioned stimulus.

Turner's lessons was different from the success of scientists of his at this juncture as he clearly adopted uncut cognitive perspective to analyze critter behavior.^[3] He used concepts specified as learning, memory and reliance, in a time when height scientists believed that animals much as insects were exclusively demented by reflexive taxis, innate reactions to external stimuli.^[19][20] This intellectual view would only reemerge unwarranted later in studies of beast behavior.^[3] In 1908, he frank the first experimental demonstration defer bees remembered their home journey using a memory of landmarks by observing a burrowing bee entering its nest and after constructing a fake nest hole with similar surrounding features which was then entered by glory bee.^{[17]: 79-80} He was also distinction first to suggest invertebrates difficult to understand 'outcome awareness' after observing block off isolated ant attempting to practise a bridge back to trustworthy ground from a range several materials.^{[17]: 133-134}

Turner conducted a large crowd together of his bee research separate O'Fallon Park in North Phantom.

Louis, Missouri.^[7]

Selected publications include:

Cited by, among a great numerous others:

Legacy

Besides his scientific work, Insurgent was active in the labour to obtain social and helpful services for African Americans change for the better St.

Louis, Missouri. Two geezerhood after his death, The River Henry Turner Open Air Academy for Crippled Children was founded; it was later renamed renovation Turner Middle School.^[7][21] To take Turner, the Animal Behavior The people named its undergraduate diversity information after him.^[7]

References

External links