Work
Norman is known for publishing major work on Protozoa, Porifera, Coelenterata, mollusca, crustacea, echinodermata, and other invertebrates. The publication Museum Normanianum summarised his collection of 11,086 species, which was acquired by the Natural History Museum, London. They were purchased in four instalments between 1898 and 1911 by the Museum. Norman also presented many specimens to the Museum.
Norman published in excess of 200 papers. His early papers were on birds, insects, amphibians and fishes. Between 1857 and 1861, he published major work on molluscs of the Firth of Clyde and, between 1890 and 1899, he published important reviews of the Mollusca. His account in 1865 on some groups of British echinoderms was the first major contribution to these groups since Edward Forbes’ British Starfishes of 1841.
In his later years, Norman published mainly about studies of marine and freshwater invertebrates. He published important studies on several groups of crustaceans, some in collaboration with other naturalists.
Norman’s library, which incorporated John Gwyn Jeffreys' library on molluscs, is now in the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge.
Read more about this topic: Alfred Merle Norman
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“Writing a book I have found to be like building a house. A man forms a plan, and collects materials. He thinks he has enough to raise a large and stately edifice; but after he has arranged, compacted and polished, his work turns out to be a very small performance. The authour however like the builder, knows how much labour his work has cost him; and therefore estimates it at a higher rate than other people think it deserves,”
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