Robert May, Baron May of Oxford



Robert McCredie May, Baron May of Oxford (8 January 1936 – 28 April 2020) was an Australian scientist who has been Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government, President of the Royal Society, and a Professor at Sydney and Princeton.

Quotes

 * To a rough approximation, and setting aside vertebrate chauvinism, it can be said that essentially all organisms are insects.
 * How many species are there on earth? (1988), Science 241: 1441--9


 * Not only in research, but also in the everyday world of politics and economics, we would all be better off if more people realised that simple nonlinear systems do not necessarily possess simple dynamical properties.
 * Simple mathematical models with very complicated dynamics (1976), Nature 261: 459--467