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Ray's theology is strikingly different from modern biological thought. Yet his goal of a natural system of classification inspired Linnaeus, and generations of systematists after Linnaeus, to collect, document, and classify organisms; Ray's work began to bring order to the study of species. Ray's use of total morphology to classify organisms would become a powerful tool in the hands of evolutionary biologists trying to infer evolutionary relationships. Ray's insight that fossils were once living organisms was a significant advance over most other theories of his time, and his prophetic questions as to what fossils might indicate about the Earth's age and history would be taken up by generations of paleontologists. Natural theology remained an influential doctrine for well over a century after Ray's death; inspiring naturalists to look at form in the context of function, it laid the groundwork for evolutionary studies of adaptation and fitness. Many of the 19th-century natural historians who influenced Darwin, such as Agassiz, Paley, Sedgwick, and Buckland, were followers of natural theology or strongly influenced by it

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Ray's theology is strikingly different from modern biological thought. Yet his goal of a natural system of classification inspired Linnaeus, and generations of systematists after Linnaeus, to collect, document, and classify organisms; Ray's work began to bring order to the study of species. Ray's use of total morphology to classify organisms would become a powerful tool in the hands of evolutionary biologists trying to infer evolutionary relationships. Ray's insight that fossils were once living organisms was a significant advance over most other theories of his time, and his prophetic questions as to what fossils might indicate about the Earth's age and history would be taken up by generations of paleontologists. Natural theology remained an influential doctrine for well over a century after Ray's death; inspiring naturalists to look at form in the context of function, it laid the groundwork for evolutionary studies of adaptation and fitness. Many of the 19th-century natural historians who influenced Darwin, such as Agassiz, Paley, Sedgwick, and Buckland, were followers of natural theology or strongly influenced by it

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But what to make of fossils that resembled no living organism? Ray explained this as due to ignorance of the full range of living organisms. Like most scientists of his time and after, Ray was reluctant to accept the idea that God would allow any beings in his perfect creation to go extinct: "If it be said that these species be lost out of the world, that is a supposition which philosophers hitherto have been unwilling to admit." Ray thought that the strange forms seen as fossils might still be living on the Earth in unexplored places. But towards the end of his life, Ray began to wonder what those mysterious fossils might mean. Some of his doubts came from his correspondence with the Welsh naturalist Edward Lhwyd (1660-1709), who in 1695 sent Ray some plant fossils of a type that had never been seen. Could such forms have grown within the rocks, as Lhwyd was inclined to believe? Or might such fossils indicate a much older Earth than the one of traditional Christian theology? In a letter to Lhwyd about his plant fossils, Ray wrote:                                                                                Yet on ye other side there follows such a train of consequences, as seem to shock the Scripture-History of ye novity [newness] of the World; at least they overthrow the opinion generally received. . . that since ye first Creation there have been no species of Animals or Vegetables lost, no new ones produced. But whatever may be said for ye Antiquity of the Earth it self & bodies lodged on it, yet that ye race of mankind is new upon ye earth, & not older than ye Scripture makes it, may I think by many arguments be almost demonstratively proved. . .

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But what to make of fossils that resembled no living organism? Ray explained this as due to ignorance of the full range of living organisms. Like most scientists of his time and after, Ray was reluctant to accept the idea that God would allow any beings in his perfect creation to go extinct: "If it be said that these species be lost out of the world, that is a supposition which philosophers hitherto have been unwilling to admit." Ray thought that the strange forms seen as fossils might still be living on the Earth in unexplored places. But towards the end of his life, Ray began to wonder what those mysterious fossils might mean. Some of his doubts came from his correspondence with the Welsh naturalist Edward Lhwyd (1660-1709), who in 1695 sent Ray some plant fossils of a type that had never been seen. Could such forms have grown within the rocks, as Lhwyd was inclined to believe? Or might such fossils indicate a much older Earth than the one of traditional Christian theology? In a letter to Lhwyd about his plant fossils, Ray wrote:                                                                                Yet on ye other side there follows such a train of consequences, as seem to shock the Scripture-History of ye novity [newness] of the World; at least they overthrow the opinion generally received. . . that since ye first Creation there have been no species of Animals or Vegetables lost, no new ones produced. But whatever may be said for ye Antiquity of the Earth it self & bodies lodged on it, yet that ye race of mankind is new upon ye earth, & not older than ye Scripture makes it, may I think by many arguments be almost demonstratively proved. . .

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Ray's theories about fossils were mixed, but he always supported the theory that fossils were once living organisms. Some fossils, perhaps, had been formed in the Biblical flood, when "the fountains of the deep" had washed marine organisms onto the land through great fissures. However, Ray did not believe that all fossils, or even most fossils, had been formed in this way. Ray's scientific objections to the Deluge -- that fossil were found in discrete beds, and that a flood would have washed fossils away from land, not onto land -- echo those of Leonardo da Vinci over a century earlier. Rather, Ray explained most fossils with this hypothesis: during the creation of the world, the Earth had been covered by a single ocean, where the fossil organisms had once lived, which had slowly receded to expose the land. Other fossils might have been formed when the ocean floor was raised by "subterraneous Fires and Flatuses" (that is, volcanoes and earthquakes), although Ray thought these were rare events. Ray's ideas were opposed to other prevailing theories of the origin of fossils: that they were lusi naturae, "games of nature"; that they were formed by some sort of creative force or "Plastick Virtue" acting on the Earth; or that they had been made by God for His pleasure, or by God as models for living organisms, or by the Devil to tempt, frighten, or confuse people.

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Ray's theories about fossils were mixed, but he always supported the theory that fossils were once living organisms. Some fossils, perhaps, had been formed in the Biblical flood, when "the fountains of the deep" had washed marine organisms onto the land through great fissures. However, Ray did not believe that all fossils, or even most fossils, had been formed in this way. Ray's scientific objections to the Deluge -- that fossil were found in discrete beds, and that a flood would have washed fossils away from land, not onto land -- echo those of Leonardo da Vinci over a century earlier. Rather, Ray explained most fossils with this hypothesis: during the creation of the world, the Earth had been covered by a single ocean, where the fossil organisms had once lived, which had slowly receded to expose the land. Other fossils might have been formed when the ocean floor was raised by "subterraneous Fires and Flatuses" (that is, volcanoes and earthquakes), although Ray thought these were rare events. Ray's ideas were opposed to other prevailing theories of the origin of fossils: that they were lusi naturae, "games of nature"; that they were formed by some sort of creative force or "Plastick Virtue" acting on the Earth; or that they had been made by God for His pleasure, or by God as models for living organisms, or by the Devil to tempt, frighten, or confuse people.

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In two major works written late in his life, The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation (1691) and Three Physico-Theological Discourses (1692), Ray expounded his views of the creation, organization, and eventual fate of the Earth and the life on it. The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation was especially popular and influential; it was translated into several foreign languages, and was reprinted for over fifty years after its publication. Both of these books were based on sermons Ray had delivered at Cambridge. Such deep religious feeling may seem out of place in scientific writing today, but Ray's work actually represented a huge advance for science. Whereas many medieval and later theologians had taught that the natural world distracted pople from salvation and should be avoided, Ray affirmed powerfully that Nature was a worthy subject for study and reason, and that such activity was pleasing to God. Ray cautioned against blind acceptance of authorities: in The Wisdom of God, he wrote:Let it not suffice to be book-learned, to read what others have written and to take upon trust more falsehood than truth, but let us ourselves examine things as we have opportunity, and converse with Nature as well as with books.Also, because of Ray's belief in natural theology, he spent a great deal of time pondering the relationships of organismal form to function. Living things showed adaptations to their environments, which for Ray were signs of God's design and hence worthy of study. Unlike Linnaeus, who focused almost exclusively on classification for its own sake, Ray began to use classification to address questions in physiology, function, and behavior. The Wisdom of God is filled with excellent observations and questions about organisms' behavior and function.

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In two major works written late in his life, The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation (1691) and Three Physico-Theological Discourses (1692), Ray expounded his views of the creation, organization, and eventual fate of the Earth and the life on it. The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation was especially popular and influential; it was translated into several foreign languages, and was reprinted for over fifty years after its publication. Both of these books were based on sermons Ray had delivered at Cambridge. Such deep religious feeling may seem out of place in scientific writing today, but Ray's work actually represented a huge advance for science. Whereas many medieval and later theologians had taught that the natural world distracted pople from salvation and should be avoided, Ray affirmed powerfully that Nature was a worthy subject for study and reason, and that such activity was pleasing to God. Ray cautioned against blind acceptance of authorities: in The Wisdom of God, he wrote:Let it not suffice to be book-learned, to read what others have written and to take upon trust more falsehood than truth, but let us ourselves examine things as we have opportunity, and converse with Nature as well as with books.Also, because of Ray's belief in natural theology, he spent a great deal of time pondering the relationships of organismal form to function. Living things showed adaptations to their environments, which for Ray were signs of God's design and hence worthy of study. Unlike Linnaeus, who focused almost exclusively on classification for its own sake, Ray began to use classification to address questions in physiology, function, and behavior. The Wisdom of God is filled with excellent observations and questions about organisms' behavior and function.

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A devout Christian, Ray expounded his belief in "natural theology," the doctrine that the wisdom and power of God could be understood by studying His creation, the natural world. This doctrine can be traced back to the Bible, but Ray expressed it so fully and clearly that he started a long tradition of natural theology in England and abroad. As Ray wrote in 1660:There is for a free man no occupation more worthy and delightful than to contemplate the beauteous works of nature and honour the infinite wisdom and goodness of God.

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A devout Christian, Ray expounded his belief in "natural theology," the doctrine that the wisdom and power of God could be understood by studying His creation, the natural world. This doctrine can be traced back to the Bible, but Ray expressed it so fully and clearly that he started a long tradition of natural theology in England and abroad. As Ray wrote in 1660:There is for a free man no occupation more worthy and delightful than to contemplate the beauteous works of nature and honour the infinite wisdom and goodness of God.

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Starting in 1660 with his Catalogue of Cambridge Plants, and ending with the posthumous publication of Synopsis Methodica Avium et Piscium in 1713, Ray published systematic works on plants, birds, mammals, fish, and insects, in which he brought order to the chaotic mass of names in use by the naturalists of his time. Like Linnaeus, Ray searched for the "natural system," a classification of organisms that would reflect the Divine Order of creation. Unlike Linnaeus, whose plant classification was based entirely on floral reproductive organs, Ray classified plants by overall morphology: the classification in his 1682 book Methodus Plantarum Nova draws on flowers, seeds, fruits, and roots. Ray's plant classification system was the first to divide flowering plants into monocots and dicots. This method produced more "natural" results than "artificial" systems based on one feature alone; it expressed the similarities between species more fully. Ray's system greatly influenced later botanists such as Jussieu and de Candolle, and systems based on total morphology came to replace systems based on only one feature or organ system.

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Starting in 1660 with his Catalogue of Cambridge Plants, and ending with the posthumous publication of Synopsis Methodica Avium et Piscium in 1713, Ray published systematic works on plants, birds, mammals, fish, and insects, in which he brought order to the chaotic mass of names in use by the naturalists of his time. Like Linnaeus, Ray searched for the "natural system," a classification of organisms that would reflect the Divine Order of creation. Unlike Linnaeus, whose plant classification was based entirely on floral reproductive organs, Ray classified plants by overall morphology: the classification in his 1682 book Methodus Plantarum Nova draws on flowers, seeds, fruits, and roots. Ray's plant classification system was the first to divide flowering plants into monocots and dicots. This method produced more "natural" results than "artificial" systems based on one feature alone; it expressed the similarities between species more fully. Ray's system greatly influenced later botanists such as Jussieu and de Candolle, and systems based on total morphology came to replace systems based on only one feature or organ system.

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4)Nor was this the sum of his work. In the 1690s Ray also published three volumes on religion. The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation (1691), an essay in natural religion that called on the full range of his biological learning, was his most popular and influential book. It argued that the correlation of form and function in organic nature demonstrates the necessity of an omniscient creator. This argument from design, common to most of the leading scientists of the 17th century, implied a static view of nature that was distinctly different from the evolutionary ideas of the early and mid-19th century. Still working on his Historia Insectorum, John Ray died at the age of 77.

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4)Nor was this the sum of his work. In the 1690s Ray also published three volumes on religion. The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation (1691), an essay in natural religion that called on the full range of his biological learning, was his most popular and influential book. It argued that the correlation of form and function in organic nature demonstrates the necessity of an omniscient creator. This argument from design, common to most of the leading scientists of the 17th century, implied a static view of nature that was distinctly different from the evolutionary ideas of the early and mid-19th century. Still working on his Historia Insectorum, John Ray died at the age of 77.

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In all this work, Ray contributed to the ordering of taxonomy. Instead of a single feature, he attempted to base his systems of classification on all the structural characteristics, including internal anatomy. By insisting on the importance of lungs and cardiac structure, he effectively established the class of mammals, and he divided insects according to the presence or absence of metamorphoses. Although a truly natural system of taxonomy could not be realized before the age of Darwin, Ray’s system approached that goal more than the frankly artificial systems of his contemporaries. He was one of the great predecessors who made possible Carolus Linnaeus’ contributions in the following century.

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In all this work, Ray contributed to the ordering of taxonomy. Instead of a single feature, he attempted to base his systems of classification on all the structural characteristics, including internal anatomy. By insisting on the importance of lungs and cardiac structure, he effectively established the class of mammals, and he divided insects according to the presence or absence of metamorphoses. Although a truly natural system of taxonomy could not be realized before the age of Darwin, Ray’s system approached that goal more than the frankly artificial systems of his contemporaries. He was one of the great predecessors who made possible Carolus Linnaeus’ contributions in the following century.

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Important Publications          Ray had never interrupted his research in botany. In 1682 he had published a Methodus Plantarum Nova (revised in 1703 as the Methodus Plantarum Emendata . . . ), his contribution to classification, which insisted on the taxonomic importance of the distinction between monocotyledons and dicotyledons, plants whose seeds germinate with one leaf and those with two, respectively. Ray’s enduring legacy to botany was the establishment of species as the ultimate unit of taxonomy. On the basis of the Methodus, he constructed his masterwork, the Historia Plantarum, three huge volumes that appeared between 1686 and 1704. After the first two volumes, he was urged to compose a complete system of nature. To this end he compiled brief synopses of British and European plants, a Synopsis Methodica Avium et Piscium (published posthumously, 1713; “Synopsis of Birds and Fish”), and a Synopsis Methodica Animalium Quadrupedum et Serpentini Generis (1693; “Synopsis of Quadrupeds”). Much of his final decade was spent on a pioneering investigation of insects, published posthumously as Historia Insectorum.

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Important Publications          Ray had never interrupted his research in botany. In 1682 he had published a Methodus Plantarum Nova (revised in 1703 as the Methodus Plantarum Emendata . . . ), his contribution to classification, which insisted on the taxonomic importance of the distinction between monocotyledons and dicotyledons, plants whose seeds germinate with one leaf and those with two, respectively. Ray’s enduring legacy to botany was the establishment of species as the ultimate unit of taxonomy. On the basis of the Methodus, he constructed his masterwork, the Historia Plantarum, three huge volumes that appeared between 1686 and 1704. After the first two volumes, he was urged to compose a complete system of nature. To this end he compiled brief synopses of British and European plants, a Synopsis Methodica Avium et Piscium (published posthumously, 1713; “Synopsis of Birds and Fish”), and a Synopsis Methodica Animalium Quadrupedum et Serpentini Generis (1693; “Synopsis of Quadrupeds”). Much of his final decade was spent on a pioneering investigation of insects, published posthumously as Historia Insectorum.

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3)The first fruit of the agreement, a tour of the European continent lasting from 1663 to 1666, greatly extended Ray’s first-hand knowledge of flora and fauna. Back in England, the two friends set to work on their appointed task. In 1670 Ray produced a Catalogus Plantarum Angliae (“Catalog of English Plants”). Then in 1672 Willughby suddenly died, and Ray took up the completion of Willughby’s portion of their project. In 1676 Ray published F. Willughbeii . . . Ornithologia (The Ornithology of F. Willughby . . .) under Willughby’s name, even though Ray had contributed at least as much as Willughby. Ray also completed F. Willughbeii . . . de Historia Piscium (1685; “History of Fish”), with the Royal Society, of which Ray was a fellow, financing its publication.

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3)The first fruit of the agreement, a tour of the European continent lasting from 1663 to 1666, greatly extended Ray’s first-hand knowledge of flora and fauna. Back in England, the two friends set to work on their appointed task. In 1670 Ray produced a Catalogus Plantarum Angliae (“Catalog of English Plants”). Then in 1672 Willughby suddenly died, and Ray took up the completion of Willughby’s portion of their project. In 1676 Ray published F. Willughbeii . . . Ornithologia (The Ornithology of F. Willughby . . .) under Willughby’s name, even though Ray had contributed at least as much as Willughby. Ray also completed F. Willughbeii . . . de Historia Piscium (1685; “History of Fish”), with the Royal Society, of which Ray was a fellow, financing its publication.

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2)That career had already begun with the publication of his first work in 1660, a catalog of plants growing around Cambridge. After he had exhausted the Cambridge area as a subject for his studies, Ray began to explore the rest of Britain. An expedition in 1662 to Wales and Cornwall with the naturalist Francis Willughby was a turning point in his life. Willughby and Ray agreed to undertake a study of the complete natural history of living things, with Ray responsible for the plant kingdom and Willughby the animal.

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2)That career had already begun with the publication of his first work in 1660, a catalog of plants growing around Cambridge. After he had exhausted the Cambridge area as a subject for his studies, Ray began to explore the rest of Britain. An expedition in 1662 to Wales and Cornwall with the naturalist Francis Willughby was a turning point in his life. Willughby and Ray agreed to undertake a study of the complete natural history of living things, with Ray responsible for the plant kingdom and Willughby the animal.

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1)

Ray was the son of the village blacksmith in Black Notley and attended the grammar school in nearby Braintree. In 1644, with the aid of a fund that had been left in trust to support needy scholars at the University of Cambridge, he matriculated at one of the colleges there, St. Catherine’s Hall, and moved to Trinity College in 1646. Ray had come to Cambridge at the right time for one with his talents, for he found a circle of friends with whom he pursued anatomical and chemical studies. He also progressed well in the curriculum, taking his bachelor’s degree in 1648 and being elected to a fellowship at Trinity the following year; during the next 13 years he lived quietly in his collegiate cloister.

Ray’s string of fortunate circumstances ended with the Restoration. Although he was never an excited partisan, he was thoroughly Puritan in spirit and refused to take the oath that was prescribed by the Act of Uniformity. In 1662 he lost his fellowship. Prosperous friends supported him during the subsequent 43 years while he pursued his career as a naturalist.

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Early Life and Education:Born on 29 November in 1627 in a small village of Black Notley, Essex, John Ray’s father was a blacksmith. Ray attended a grammar school and then entered the Cambridge University at the young age of sixteen.

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Early Life and Education:Born on 29 November in 1627 in a small village of Black Notley, Essex, John Ray’s father was a blacksmith. Ray attended a grammar school and then entered the Cambridge University at the young age of sixteen.

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tax*on*o*my noun\ tak-ˈsä-nə-mē \:the study of the general principles of scientific classification : systematics:classification; especially : orderly classification of plants and animals according to their presumed natural relationships

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 He was one of the leading 17th-century English naturalist and botanist who contributed significantly to progress in taxonomy. His enduring legacy to botany was the establishment of species as the ultimate unit of taxonomy.

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 He was one of the leading 17th-century English naturalist and botanist who contributed significantly to progress in taxonomy. His enduring legacy to botany was the establishment of species as the ultimate unit of taxonomy.

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JOHN RAY (1628-1705)