Doctor Thomas Thomson Paterson (1909-1994), archaeologist, palaeontologist, geologist, glaciologist, geographer, anthropologist, ethnologist, sociologist, and world authority on administration,[1] was curator of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge from 1937 to 1948. He gained his Ph.D. at Cambridge and became a Fellow of Trinity College.[2]
In the 30s Paterson participated in several Arctic expeditions,[3] during which time collected many string figures, leading to his 1949 article, "Eskimo String Figures and Their Origin," Acta Arctica 3:1-98. He also participated in expeditions to East Africa, India, Greenland and Northern Canada.[2]
A trouble-shooter for the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, after which he studied industrial relations in the British National Coal Board in detail.[2]
While at the University of Glasgow in the Department of Social and Economic Research he founded Methectics, now Methexis.[2] He then transferred to the University of Strathclyde and built its School of Administration to the largest in Europe.[2] He spent time researching in South Africa before moving to Canada.[2]