Thomas Stanley Westoll facts for kids

Thomas Stanley Westoll (born July 3, 1912 – died September 19, 1995) was an important British scientist. He was a geologist, which means he studied the Earth's rocks and history. For many years, he led the Geology Department at Newcastle University.

Early Life and Learning

Thomas Westoll was born in a town called West Hartlepool. He went to West Hartlepool Grammar School. After that, he earned a scholarship to study science at Durham University. He focused on geology and palaeontology, which is the study of fossils and ancient life. He earned his first degree in 1932.

He continued his studies and earned a PhD in 1934. His research was about ancient fish from the Permian period, a time long, long ago.

Working as a Professor

In 1937, Thomas Westoll started teaching geology and mineralogy at Aberdeen University in Scotland. He was very interested in studying fossil fish. In 1943, he was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, which is a group of important scientists. Aberdeen University also gave him another advanced degree, a DSc.

In 1948, he moved back to England to become a professor of geology at the University of Newcastle. He stayed there until he retired in 1977. Even after retiring, he continued to do research.

Important Discoveries and Awards

In 1952, Thomas Westoll was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, another very important scientific group. They recognized him for his amazing work on ancient fossil animals.

He helped us understand how early vertebrates (animals with backbones) were built. He also had new ideas about how the fins of fish and the limbs of tetrapods (four-legged animals) first developed. He helped explain how the bones in the skulls of different animals are related. He even made new comparisons between the skulls of amphibians and fish. His work also helped solve old puzzles about how the roof of the mouth and the ear developed in mammals.

From 1972 to 1974, he was the President of the Geological Society of London, a leading group for geologists.

Thomas Westoll passed away in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1995.

Family Life

Thomas Westoll was married twice. He first married Dorothy Cecil Isobel Wood in 1939. Later, in 1952, he married Barbara Swanson McAdie.

What He Studied

Thomas Westoll had many interests in his research, but he is most famous for his work on how fish have changed over time, known as the evolution of fish. He also studied how the limbs of four-legged animals developed. Another topic he worked on was understanding the boundary between the Silurian and Devonian periods in Earth's history. He made important contributions in these and many other areas throughout his long career.

An ancient type of ray-finned fish from the early Permian period, called Westollia, was named in his honor.