Manton, Sidnie (1902–1979)

English zoologist . Born Sidnie Milana Manton in 1902 in England; died in 1979; educated at the Froebel Educational Institute School and St. Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith; Girton College, Cambridge, Ph.D., 1928, Sc.D., 1934; married Dr. John Philip Harding, in 1937; children: one daughter and one son.

Sidnie Milana Manton was born in 1902 in England. She attended Froebel Educational Institute School and St. Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith, and Girton College in Cambridge. In 1928, after earning her Ph.D. in zoology at Girton, Manton visited Tasmania and participated in an exploration of the Great Barrier Reef, making advanced studies in arthropods. From 1935 to 1942, she served as director of studies in natural science at Girton. Remaining at her alma mater, she held the positions of staff fellow from 1942 to 1945 and research fellow from 1945 to 1948. In 1948, Manton was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. The following year, she was appointed as a reader (instructor) in zoology at King's College in London, where she remained until 1960. She was also associated with the British Museum Natural History section as an honorary worker. Her husband, Dr. John Philip Harding, whom she had married in 1937, became the Keeper of Zoology for the British Museum. The couple had two children, a daughter and a son.

Manton's research, much of which focused on evolution, added significantly to the knowledge of invertebrates, about which little had been studied previously, and she became eminent in the fields of arthropod embryology and functional morphology. Awards granted to Sidnie Manton included the Linnaean Gold Medal (1963) and the Frink Medal of the Zoological Society (1977). She also was named an honorary fellow of Queen Mary College in London. In 1930 she published her first work (coauthored by J.T. Saunders), A Manual of Practical Vertebrate Morphology; the fourth edition was released in 1969. She also wrote Colourpoint, Himalayan and Longhair Cats. The first edition was published in 1971, and the second edition in 1979. Her most comprehensive work appeared in 1977 as The Arthropods: Habits, Functional Morphology and Evolution.

Kari Bethel , freelance writer, Columbia, Missouri