The Phil' Palmer Collection - inspiring a new generation of conchologists

摘要

The last issue of Mollusc World contained a fascinating and moving article about Charles Philip (Phil')Palmer (figure 1, below), a palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum and long-time member of the Conchological Society (Mollusc World issue 45 pp. 16-19). This appreciation of Phil' Palmer, written by Conchological Society members Jan Light and John Whicher and by Phil's daughter Caroline Palmer, portrays an intelligent and gifted scientist who was nevertheless modest and fundamentally shy. A natural teacher, full of wisdom and enthusiasm for the natural world, Phil' was helpful and encouraging to beginners， and was clearly an extremely influential figure in the lives and careers of those he mentored. The accounts also show that Phil' was a bit of a maverick with a wonderful sense of humour - how I wish I had met him!