Claud William Wright

Claud William Wright (January 9, 1917 – February 15, 2010) was a senior British civil servant who was also an expert in the disciplines of geology, paleontology, and archaeology.

Quotes

• Physics, chemistry, astrophysics are obviously the ideal field for the tidy mind ...in the biological and geological sciences the tidy mind often goes astray and the passive, unmathematical approach may be more suitable.
  ...The sciences that deal with natural process, geology or geography, or with life, zoology or botany, have an immensely more complicated task than physics or chemistry.
  ... A particular danger, I believe, lies in an oversimplified use of mathematical or statistical methods of investigation, in which obviously erroneous results may be obtained by a selection of only a few of many relevant factors to be considered.
  • From "Order and Disorder in Nature", 1958 Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 69, 2, 77-82. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7878(58)80044-9

• My fossils, ferns and porcelain (i.e. my hobbies) are an island of sanity in a mad world, an island found by others of my profession who devote a quiet hour to their postmarks, butterflies, stamps or poetry. My palaeontology was a sure restoration of equanimity after the frustrations of working for and with some politicians.
  • Shovelton, Patrick (2010). Claud Wright: Senior civil servant who was also a leading expert in geology, palaeontology and archaeology — Obituary, The Independent, Monday, 8 March 2010.