Alister Hardy

Sir Alister Hardy FRS
Born	Alister Clavering Hardy (1896-02-10)10 February 1896 Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England
Died	22 May 1985(1985-05-22) (aged 89) Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
Known for	RRS Discovery work Continuous Plankton Recorder Aquatic ape hypothesis
Spouse	Sylvia Garstang
Parent(s)	Richard Hardy and Elizabeth Hannah Clavering
Awards	Fellow of the Royal Society, Templeton Prize
Scientific career
Fields	Marine zoology
Institutions	University of Hull, University of Aberdeen, University of Oxford

Sir Alister Clavering Hardy FRS FRSE FLS^[1] (10 February 1896 – 22 May 1985) was an English marine biologist, an expert on marine ecosystems spanning organisms from zooplankton to whales. He had the artistic skill to illustrate his books with his own drawings, maps, diagrams, and paintings.

Hardy served as zoologist on the RRS Discovery's voyage to explore the Antarctic between 1925 and 1927. On the voyage he invented the Continuous Plankton Recorder; it enabled any ship to collect plankton samples during an ordinary voyage.

After retiring from his academic work, Hardy founded the Religious Experience Research Centre in 1969; he won the Templeton Prize for this in 1985.