1755 ELLIS, John (1710 – 1776)

An essay towards the natural history of the corallines, and other marine productions of the like kind, commonly found on the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland. To which is added the description of a large marine polype taken near the North Pole, by the whale-fishers, in the summer 1753.

The first work to state the animal nature of corals, which had previously been regarded as marine plants. It has been asserted that although unsigned, some of the plates are after drawings by Ehret. Digital facsimile …

GMN 12706 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/14951

1842 DARWIN, Charles Robert (1809 – 1882)

The structure and distribution of coral reefs. Being the first part of the geology of the voyage of the Beagle, under the command of Capt. Fitzroy, R. N. During the years 1832 to 1836.

With slight modification, Darwin's work remains the accepted explanation for these phenomena. "Even if he had done nothing else, the theory of the coral islands alone would have placed Darwin in the very front of inve…

GMN 8916 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/11094

1857 –1860 MILNE-EDWARDS, Henri (1800 – 1885)

Histoire naturelle des coralliaires, ou polypes proprement dits. 3 vols. + Atlas.

Digital facsimile from Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.

GMN 12018 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/14226

1860 GOSSE, Philip Henry (1810 – 1888)

Actinologia Britannica. A history of the British sea-anemones and corals. With coloured figures of the species and principal varieties.

Digital facsimile from Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.

GMN 11805 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/14007

1872 DANA, James Dwight (1813 – 1895)

Corals and coral islands.

Digital facsimile from Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.

GMN 11803 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/14005

1893 SAVILLE-KENT, William (1845 – 1908)

The Great Barrier Reef of Australia; Its products and potentialities, containing an account, with copious coloured and photographic illustrations (the latter here produced for the first time), of the corals and coral reefs, pearl and pearl-shell, bêche-de-mer, other fishing Industries, and the marine fauna of the Australian Great Barrier region.

Digital facsimile from Biodiversity Heritage LIbrary at this link.

GMN 11810 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/14012

1912 WOOD JONES, Frederick (1879 – 1954)

Coral and atolls. A history and description of the Keeling-Cocos Islands, with an account of their fauna and flora, and a discussion of the method of development and transformation of coral structures in general.

Wood Jones was one of the first to study coral reefs as living organisms interacting with their environment. Prior to Wood Jones's book most of the work on corals was done from the systematics viewpoint using specimen…

GMN 11812 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/14014

2015 BOWEN, James

The coral reef era: From discovery to decline. A history of scientific investigation from 1600 to the anthropocene epoch.

GMN 11807 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/14009

2019 PORTER, James W.

The professional library of James W. Porter on corals and coral reefs.

GMN 11804 · https://historyofmedicine.com/id/14006