Aubrey Manning

Aubrey William George Manning, OBE, FRSE, FRSB (24 April 1930 – 20 October 2018), was an English zoologist and broadcaster.

Early life Manning, the son of William, who worked for the Home and Colonial Stores, and Hilda, was born in Chiswick, but moved with his family to Englefield Green in Surrey when the Second World War broke out, to escape the Blitz.

Manning was educated at Strode's Grammar School in Egham, at University College London, where he studied zoology, and then at Merton College, Oxford, where he completed his DPhil under Niko Tinbergen.

Career After National Service in the Royal Artillery, he joined the University of Edinburgh as an assistant lecturer in 1956. He was Professor of Natural History at the university from 1973 to 1997.

Honours and public offices Manning was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1973), and received an OBE in 1998. He also held honorary doctorates from Université Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, the University of St Andrews, and the Open University. He received the Zoological Society of London Silver Medal in 2003, for public understanding of science.

Writing and broadcasting Manning wrote An Introduction to Animal Behaviour (1967) published by Cambridge University Press, which is now in its sixth edition (last three editions co-authored with Professor Marian Stamp Dawkins. His television broadcasts included: BBC Two's Earth Story, Landscape Mysteries and Talking Landscapes. His radio broadcasts included The Rules of Life for BBC Radio 4 and the Open University in 2006. He also broadcast five series of Radio 4's Unearthing Mysteries, Sounds of Life and Origins: the Human Connection.