Thomas Penny

Thomas Penny (1532 – January 1589) was an English physician and early entomologist. His solo works have not survived and he is primarily known through quotations from other sixteenth century biologists. It is believed that he broke with Aristotle on classification of caterpillars. He was also a Puritan and as such kept a low profile during the reign of Queen Mary I of England. He is perhaps best known for being partly responsible for the Insectorum, sive, Minimorum animalium theatrum or Theatre of Insects. This work was written jointly by Conrad Gessner (posthumously), Edward Edward Wotton, Thomas Muffet, and Thomas Penny.^[1]

Penny suffered from asthma and dosed himself with woodlice crushed in wine.^[2][3]

References

1. Thomas Penny the first English Entomologist by W. T. W. Potts and L. Fear. article at the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society
2. "Embroidered Elizabethan Jacket: insects and early entomologists". Addison Embroidery at the Vicarage. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
3. Raven, Charles E. (31 October 2010). English Naturalists from Neckam to Ray: A Study of the Making of the Modern World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,. p. 171. ISBN 978-11080-163-46.

Further reading

• D. E. Allen, ‘Penny, Thomas (c.1530–1589)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004