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Gilbert White FRS (18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) was a "parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist and ornithologist. He remained unmarried and a curate all his life. He is best known for his ''Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne''. ==Life== White was born in his grandfather's vicarage at Selborne in Hampshire. He was educated at the Holy Ghost School and by a private tutor in Basingstoke before going to Oriel College, Oxford. He obtained his deacon's orders in 1746, being fully ordained in 1749, and subsequently held several curacies in Hampshire and Wiltshire, including Selborne's neighbouring parishes of Newton Valence and Farringdon, as well as Selborne itself on four separate occasions. In 1752/53 White held the office of Junior Proctor at Oxford and was Dean of Oriel. In 1757 he became non-resident perpetual curate of Moreton Pinkney in Northamptonshire. After the death of his father in 1758, White moved back into the family home at ''The Wakes'' in Selborne, which he eventually inherited in 1763. In 1784 he became curate of Selborne for the fourth time, remaining so until his death. Having studied at the more prestigious Oriel, at the behest of his uncle, he was ineligible to be considered for the permanent living of Selborne, which was in the gift of Magdalen College. White is regarded by many as England's first ecologist, and one of those who shaped the modern attitude of respect for nature.〔Hazell, D.L., Heinsohn, R.G. and Lindenmayer, D.B. 2005. Ecology. pp. 97-112 in R.Q. Grafton, L. Robin and R.J. Wasson (eds.), ''Understanding the Environment: Bridging the Disciplinary Divides''. Sydney, NSW: University of New South Wales Press, (p. 99).〕 He said of the earthworm:〔(Letter LXVII ) (1777)〕 Earthworms, though in appearance a small and despicable link in the chain of nature, yet, if lost, would make a lamentable chasm. () worms seem to be the great promoters of vegetation, which would proceed but lamely without them... White and William Markwick collected records of the dates of emergence of more than 400 plant and animal species, White recording in Hampshire and Markwick in Sussex between 1768 and 1793. These data, summarised in ''The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne'' as the earliest and latest dates for each event over the 25-year period, are among the earliest examples of modern phenology. His 1783–84 diary corroborates the dramatic climatic impacts of the volcanic 'Laki haze' that spread from Iceland with lethal consequences across Europe. Gilbert White's sister Anne was married to Thomas Barker (1722-1809),〔H. A. Evans, ''Highways and Byways in Northampton & Rutland'', Pocket edition (Macmillan & Co, London 1924), 161-62.〕 called 'The father of meteorology', and Gilbert maintained a correspondence with his nephew Samuel Barker, who also kept a naturalist's journal.〔See 'Literary and Scientific Intelligence', ''Gentleman's Magazine'' Vol 5, 1835, 289-90 (read here )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gilbert White」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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