1907-1979

English geneticist known for his work on melanism—the occurrence of dark pigments in isolated groups of moths. Always an outstanding student, Kettlewell studied medicine and received his degrees at Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge University and St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London. Although Kettlewell practiced medicine during World War II, he moved on to other scholastic areas, holding positions in the genetics section at Oxford's zoology department. Acknowledged by his peers to be an exceptional naturalist, he devoted much of his time to the study of melanism. His attention was held by noticing that the melanism occurred primarily in industrial areas where pollution and atmospheric carbon were prevalent.