Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Department of Biology had its origins in the teaching and research of biology in the Government School of Mines and Science as Applied to the Arts (later the Royal School of Mines) in 1851. The department moved to South Kensington in 1872, where T H Huxley was prominent in establishing modern teaching methods of the discipline. In 1881 the Royal College of Science was founded and took over the teaching of biology in two separate departments, Botany and Zoology. The Departments were united into a single Department of Biology in 1913 as part of Imperial College, with professors of Zoology, Plant Physiology, Woods and Fibres and Entomology.
The Department of Biochemistry opened in 1965. Before this, biochemical research and teaching at Imperial College operated within the Department of Botany.
The Division of Life Sciences was formed from the Departments of Botany, Zoology and Biochemistry in 1974. The Life Sciences Committee was established as a committee of the Board of Studies to consider all academic developments within the field and report to the Board as appropriate.
In 1981 the Department of Botany and Plant Technology was merged with the Department of Zoology and Applied Entomology to form the Department of Pure and Applied Biology, with the transfer of Microbiology from the Department of Biochemistry.