| Activity | After initial training with his father, Bell entered Guy's Hospital, London, as a student in 1813; he also studied at St Thomas's. In 1815 he became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons and was made a fellow in 1844. He succeeded James Fox as the dental surgeon and lecturer at Guy's in 1817, as well as taking over his private dental practice.
Although he originally trained as a dental surgeon, his lifelong interest in natural history led him to become an eminent zoologist. He was appointed as Professor of Zoology at King’s College, London, in 1836. Bell was a great compiler of scientific knowledge, rather than a field biologist, and his main groups of interest were amphibians, reptiles and crustaceans.
Thomas Bell made six voyages to Australia on convict ships and acted as Surgeon Superintendent on the voyage of the "Thames" in 1829 and the "Edward" in 1830-31.
Bell published a large number of books and scientific papers, including a description of the reptiles and amphibians collected during Charles Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle. His ‘Monograph of the Testudinata’ was an ambitious attempt to summarise the world’s turtles, living and extinct; originally intended as a folio in 8 parts, this work was never completed owing to a failure on the part of the publishers.
Bell became involved with the Linnean Society's zoological club and the short-lived Zoological Journal (1832–45), in an effort to promote and improve the professional treatment of zoology, which eventually led to the formation of the Zoological Society in 1826. His excellent administrative qualities were recognized early, for during its formative decade he was made a vice-president of that society. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1828, and was (surprisingly) appointed one of its secretaries in 1848, holding that office until 1853. When the Ray Society was founded in 1843, Bell became its first president and served until 1859. In an effort to revive the Linnean Society, his fellow members ensured that he was made president in 1853; under his guidance until 1861, the society improved its financial position, increased its membership, revitalized its meetings, and re-established its scientific role.
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