Hardy's biological approach to the roots of religion is non-reductionist, seeing religious awareness as having evolved in response to a genuine dimension of reality. For his work in founding the Religious Experience Research Centre, Hardy received the Templeton Prize shortly before his death in 1985. Family He was married to Sylvia Garstang in 1927. Works Hardy wrote numerous scientific papers on plankton, fish and whales. He wrote two popular books in the New Naturalist series, and in later life he also wrote on religion. Books The Open Sea. Its Natural History (Part I) The World of Plankton. New Naturalist No. 34, Collins, 1956. The Open Sea. Its Natural History (Part II) Fish & Fisheries. New Naturalist No. 37, Collins, 1959. The Living Stream: A Restatement of Evolution Theory and its Relationship to the Spirit of Man. Collins, 1965. The Divine Flame: An Essay Towards A Natural History of Religion. Collins, 1966. The Spiritual Nature of Man: Study of Contemporary Religious Experience. Oxford University Press, 1979. Papers The Herring in Relation to its Animate Environment. Fish. Invest. Lond., II, 7:3. 1951. (with E.R. Gunther) The Plankton of the South Georgia Whaling Grounds and Adjacent Waters, 1926-7. 'Discovery' Report, II, 1–146. Recognition Hardy's "pioneering work" was recognised by South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands in 2011 with a set of four commemorative stamps bearing his image. The University of Hull has named a building on its Hull Campus after Hardy. References Further reading David Hay, God’s Biologist: A life of Alister Hardy (London, Darton Longman and Todd, 2011). External links The Alister Hardy Society for the Study of Spiritual Experience Archives Hub Australian Continuous Plankton Recorder Project The Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey (CPR Survey) 1896 births 1985 deaths Military personnel from Nottingham British Army personnel of World War I British Army soldiers English marine biologists Fellows of Exeter College, Oxford Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Fellows of Merton College, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society People from Nottingham Templeton Prize laureates Academics of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of Hull Knights Bachelor Linacre Professors of Zoology Parapsychologists Camoufleurs 20th-century British writers New Naturalist writers 20th-century British zoologists People educated at Oundle School