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PHILOSOPHER

Herbert Spencer

1820 - 1903

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Icon of person Herbert Spencer

Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 – 8 December 1903) was an English polymath active as a philosopher, psychologist, biologist, sociologist, and anthropologist. Spencer originated the expression "survival of the fittest", which he coined in Principles of Biology (1864) after reading Charles Darwin's 1859 book On the Origin of Species. The term strongly suggests natural selection, yet Spencer saw evolution as extending into realms of sociology and ethics, so he also supported Lamarckism.Spencer developed an all-embracing conception of evolution as the progressive development of the physical world, biological organisms, the human mind, and human culture and societies. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Herbert Spencer has received more than 3,244,340 page views. His biography is available in 75 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 71 in 2019). Herbert Spencer is the 59th most popular philosopher (up from 66th in 2019), the 60th most popular biography from United Kingdom (up from 69th in 2019) and the 6th most popular British Philosopher.

Herbert Spencer is most famous for his theory of evolution.

Memorability Metrics

  • 3.2M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 78.01

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 75

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 14.03

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.00

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Herbert Spencers by language


Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, Herbert Spencer ranks 59 out of 1,081Before him are Michel Foucault, Hannah Arendt, Lucretius, Plotinus, Henri Bergson, and Anaxagoras. After him are Mikhail Bakunin, Edmund Husserl, Gorgias, Pliny the Elder, Ludwig Feuerbach, and Peter Abelard.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1820, Herbert Spencer ranks 3Before him are Friedrich Engels and Florence Nightingale. After him are Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Nadar, Anne Brontë, Henri, Count of Chambord, Harriet Tubman, Jenny Lind, Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Multatuli, and Heungseon Daewongun. Among people deceased in 1903, Herbert Spencer ranks 2Before him is Paul Gauguin. After him are Pope Leo XIII, Camille Pissarro, Theodor Mommsen, Alois Hitler, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronet, Alexander I of Serbia, Josiah Willard Gibbs, Otto Weininger, and Hugo Wolf.

Others Born in 1820

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Others Deceased in 1903

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Herbert Spencer ranks 60 out of 7,765Before him are Alfred the Great (849), Cecil Rhodes (1853), John Stuart Mill (1806), Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (1930), Richard Burton (1925), and William Wallace (1270). After him are Charles Babbage (1791), Henry VII of England (1457), George VI (1895), Virginia Woolf (1882), Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell (1857), and Edward VI of England (1537).

Among PHILOSOPHERS In United Kingdom

Among philosophers born in United Kingdom, Herbert Spencer ranks 6Before him are John Locke (1632), Francis Bacon (1561), Thomas Hobbes (1588), David Hume (1711), and Thomas More (1478). After him are William of Ockham (1285), Jeremy Bentham (1748), Roger Bacon (1220), Joseph Priestley (1733), John Venn (1834), and Duns Scotus (1265).