Woodger , J.H. (Joseph Henry) , 1894-1981 , philosopher of biology and theoretical biologist

Woodger was born on 2 May 1894 and was educated at Felsted School in Essex, showing an early interest in biology. He went to University College London (UCL) in 1911 to read zoology. He served during the First World War. In 1919 he resumed his scholarship at UCL and carried out research there until 1922. He then went to the Department of Biology at the University of London Middlesex Hospital Medical School as a Reader, where he lectured. He wrote a text-book for his biology students in which he drew most of the illustrations himself. In 1926 he went to Vienna to study for a term under Przibram. He became interested in the philosophy of science and on his return to England continued to study it. He became Professor of Biology at the Medical School in 1947. He retired in 1959. Woodger published many writings on the biological sciences. He died on 8 March 1981.