Richard Owen is a British zoologist and paleontologist. When he retired in 1884, he was promoted to the Order of Bath. Owen retired and worked at the British Museum in London, committed to opening the museum to the general public. He even encouraged workers to use the evening to visit the museum. Although this move was strongly opposed by Huxley, with Owen's efforts, it has become a trend for museums to be opened to the public.
Owen was Cuvier's true heir for most of the 19th century. He also agreed with the "vitalist" view of the German naturalist L. Okun School, which believed that evolution occurred through internal forces within cells. Therefore, when his colleague and friend for more than 20 years C. Darwin's "On the Origin of Species", the Theory of Evolution, was published in 1859, he expressed firm opposition. He felt that evolution through natural selection was too rational, the product of sheer chance, and could not accept it. He even developed to write anonymous articles (Edinburgh Review, 1860) attacking Darwin and personally instigated Bishop Wilberforce to engage in a debate with Darwin's chief defender, T. Huxley. When Darwin's writings were generally recognized in the scientific community, his attitude changed and he recognized the accuracy of Darwin's arguments. But it does not fundamentally reverse his rejection of Darwinism